Attack on Titan: Evolved
by Drakefire
Summary: 100 years after the arrival of the Titan's and the near extinction of the human race, a lone hunter finds the largest bastion of humankind under assault. Five years later, four leave the confines of their village to put an end to the extinction of the human race. The war to stop the end of the world has begun. Rated T for swearing, blood, and future same sex couples.
1. Prologue

For the first time in ages, the woods outside of the walls were quite. Almost all the animals had gone into hiding, sensing a creature unlike any other. Covered in a blue, scaley hide, the creature crept close to the ground, keeping within the treeline. Darkness was fast approaching, and when it did, she would end her hunt. She had spent nearly three months tracking down a criminal. A titan shifter that had been conducting experiments on humans, with the goal of turning them into titans themselves. She wanted to end her hunt. Tonight. She wanted to return home to her son and daughter. She had been gone for far too long as it stood. But once she finished following the trail, she found something interesting. Massive walls, easily overshadowing even herself in size, and the smell of humans. But also within that smell came overwhelming scent of her quarry. The sun was dipping ever lower as her remained still.

 _'He will die in his sleep,'_ she thought to herself. _'I climb up the wall, find him, then crush him like the bug he is.'_ The forest suddenly was filled with noise, snapping the predator out of her thoughts. The creature sniffed the air, letting out a low pitched rumble. The Titan's had begun to move toward the a bump in the wall. Some type of outlying area, most likely made to make defense easier. But the smell of humans was faint, even to her. How could they smell something that she barely could? She caught another smell, something faint, before a bolt of lightning came crashing down near the front of the outlying wall.

Her head turned with a snarl. 'Impossible,' she thought angrily 'It dares interrupt my hunt!' The creature pulled itself up to it's full height, letting out a roar of rage, and began to run. Her anger turned to shock as the massive shifter brought back it's leg, and kicked. She couldn't she what the damage was, but she knew that wall was either heavily damaged, or outright had a brand new hole in it. One that could easily let a Titan slip through. She let out another roar, before dropping to all four's and charging. Her prey could easily get away from her during the chaos and not only that, but finding a large population of humans that had survived the rise of the titan's was thought to have been an impossibility. An impossibility in danger of being wiped out. Again!

 _'I'm so going to enjoy explaining this,'_ she thought to herself as she closed the distance between her and the gaping hole in the wall. Her thoughts turned to the attackers however. A slight grin appeared over her face. ' _Ready or not. Here I come!'_.

Within the Shiganshina District, things had already gone to hell. Titan's roamed wild; killing, and eating. Ill prepared soldiers tried to hold their own, only to easily swatted out of sky and devoured. No one was close to the gate as an unknown monstrosity entered the breach. The creature was seventeen meters tall, with razor sharp fangs and claws. It's skin was no longer visible, it's body nearly encased in bright blue flame. However it's roar was heard. It's was a scream, a warcry, straight out of the mouth of hell.

The Titan sized creature encounter quickly by survivors. First came the initial panic of another Titan that hadn't been seen before, until monstrosity showed it's true colors, killing any Titan within arms reach. It's attack weren't mindless either. Giant rocks cover in blue fire, aimed at a charging titan that hadn't entered its line of sight. Gouts of blue flame from it's maw, turning anything it touched into ash. They still ran desperately, trying to get away from the titan's invading their home, but were relieved knowing that something could fight back. The evacuation hadn't even finished before the rumors started to fly. Some said the creature could talk. Other's say it was a natural enemy of the Titans. Some members of the Wall Cult claimed the creature to sent as vengeance against the Titan's for the destruction of the wall. Little did they know a very human like being was what truly fighting on their behalf.

Another roar exited the creature's mouth after she ripped out another Titans nape with her teeth. She had only been fighting for at least a half hour, but it already felt like 5 hours to her. Screaming reached her ear. They sounded like children! A low pitched snarl exited her throat, whether it was aimed at the children for their foolishness or the parents for not getting them out sooner she didn't know. She quickly caught their scent, turning her head to scream.

"NOOOOO!" The child yelled. She turned as a large fourteen meter titan with a smile that would haunt just about anything crunched down on a human, most likely one of the child's parents. He was about to let out another scream, only to be cut off by a roar. The fourteen meter turned to face her. In her rage, she didn't go for a kill. Instead the titan found itself being ripped in half, before being thrown like a rag doll, crashing into the earth a fair distance away.

Eren flinched as his shouting was cut off by an ear splitting roar. Another titan had come into view. Or at least, he thought it was a titan. The newcomer was slightly larger the titan that had just killed his mother. He could tell how big it was though, due to the fact it was encased in blue flame. The creature lifted his mother's killer over it's head like it was nothing, before began to pull. The smiling titan didn't even respond as it's body was torn in half. Another roar exited the newcomings maw, before sending its parts sailing through the air.

Hannes himself blinked. What people had been talking about was true. A monstrosity that was the size of a Titan, but was killing Titan's itself. The shear thought seemed ludicrous to him, but here it was, standing right infront of him. The flames however were finally beginning to die down, resulting in gasps from him and the children under his arms. It was clear that what that thing was, it certainly was no titan.

The creature felt itself beginning to weaken as flames retreated from its body. She had been fighting to much. She couldn't feed right now either. She needed to get this group out of harm's way before she could no longer maintain her form. She took in another breath through her nose, trying to find where everyone was being sent to get out. She let out a few rumbles, attempting to talk, trying to tell them to go. From the looks of it, however, they didn't understand a single word. She listen to what one said. Small and female, she wasn't the one who made the racket that drew her here in the first place. A slight grin grew across the Goliath's face. They were speaking German. Thankfully she knew that as well.

"Go." The creature rumbled. Everyone looked at it in surprise. "GO!" it bellowed before Hannes started moving. It could speak too! The creature was following them. Why? The massive creature suddenly reached into ground, ripping up a massive boulder almost out of nothing. It lifted the rock over it's, paused, then through the boulder into the air. The spinning projectile flew through air, crashing into a titan's skull, knocking the creature to the ground. It's head, now pinned down by the rock, was torn off by it's bodys unhindered and newfound forward momentum. Eren blinked in surprise. Was, well, whatever it was, guarding them? The creature stomped around them, grabbing hold of ten meter Titan. The larger of the two forced its mouth open before unleashing blue flame straight into it's mouth. The titan struggled for only few seconds, flopping like a fish in the monster's hand, before it's body was consumed by the fire. They were getting close to the boat as a fifteen meter Titan stepped into their path. The seventeen meter Goliath had fallen behind them. Hannes took a step back, and heard a massive roar. He barely had time to look up as a massive body blocked out the sun. The fifteen meter feel to the ground, the Titan's nape crushed into a bloody pulp. However the Goliath wasn't in much better shape. It was getting weak, and looked as if it was about to simply fall over. Deep and heavy breaths echoed throughout the area.

She snarled. Her form was weakening quickly. She was running on nothing but fumes. She let out a roar as a massive titan blocked the path. Her powerful legs kicked into motion. One moment she was far behind, the next, she had sent herself sailing through the air. Her claws clenched into a fist as she brought her full weight into the titan, turning its neck into a bloody smear on the ground. However she had used the last her reserves. She needed to return to her human form, now! Her body began to fade, a solid body of flesh and muscles turning into a heavy fog. Her body, her true body, feel along with the mist, hitting the ground hard. She didn't even care that a large group of people saw her. She swayed on her feet, trying to keep herself steady. After being in Goliath form for so long it was hard for her to even stand normally. Another Titan had caught sight of the ship full of it's favorite snack, and once again the soldiers guarding it looked like they were about to shit themselves.

"Leaving a hunter," she huffed, gripping at the ground and pulling upwards, creating another massive rock. "To do a guardian's job," She snarled, heaving the projectile with pinpoint accuracy. The rock arced upwards, before crashing down into the titan's nape with bone splitting crack. "Is shameful," she finished as the titan dropped the ground. Her body swayed for a second before crashing to ground, passed out from exhaustion.

The female began to awake from a strange sensation of moving without actually moving. Her eyes flashed open, slowly pulling herself to her feet. Wood. Right. That guardian must of put her on the boat for the evacuation. She looked up after hearing many gasps from those around her, and her face soured. A second shifter, this time one covered in armor, smashed a hole between the outling area of the wall and the wall itself.

" _Stupid honorless dog. We will find where you come from, and when we do, your people will burn,"_ She spat in the old tongue, causing many people to look her direction. She almost called them out on the matter, but decided they had enough for one day. They were heading north, and it was going to be quite the trip. Based on the evacuation design though, it was clear there was more than one of these walls. And the area covered by the first was even more massive than she thought. Impressiveness aside, it was nothing more than an oversized cage. Her throat rumbled at the thought. She would need to leave soon anyway. Her quarry be damned, this was far more important than one target. It wasn't something she could do on her own ether. She needed backup, or different people sent here, or something! Plus they had to make sure whatever tribe those two were from, find out what they were doing and make sure that tribe was never able to such damage again. This was a slaughter of unparalleled, and sadly it only it had only just begun. Many of those around her simply sat, either praying or crying. She let out a snort, a small amount of blue flames escaping her lips. Where the Evolved really descendant of a race this scared? The humans of her village had more gail, only one of them had something that they could use to fight back. A blond haired boy approached her.

"Thank you for saving them," the boy whispered, clearly intimidated by her.

"I was running out of fumes, and at that point I considered anyone I could get out a win," the larger female snarled, "Doesn't seem like it as good of a condition of victory as I thought, now." She let out a huff of air in frustration.

"It's like you could have done," the boy started.

"Differently? Better? I could have done so many different things, but none of it matters," She snapped, "I made a call with the cards I knew where in play, and your wall has a shining new hole in it to prove it. None of it matters though. The only thing that does is my next move."

"And that is?" an old wise voice asked from behind her. She let out a light sigh.

"Regain my strength for starters. Get back to my village to tell them of this. Have help sent. Track down the people responsible for this genocide," she stated in anger as the two gave her a confused look.

"Genocide?" the boy asked with curiosity, almost causing the her to do spit take. They were speaking German, right? He didn't know about that? Did they know anything about what happened before the titan's came?

"Genocide," she said with a sigh, "is the intentional killing of a people or peoples, based on factors such as skin color, religion, where one lives, or any other factor in vast quantities."

"Titan's where the first, and we thought humans had mostly gone extinct. And here I am, on a boat with a species that is about to be once again on it's deathbed if nothing happens." The female let out sigh. Before grinning as she watched one of the children she save curse out the Titans, saying he would wipe them off the face of the earth.

"By the way," The old man behind her said, "I never got your name." She turned around with a smile.

"Names Mary," she said, "Mary Reid".


	2. Song of War

Luke let out a sigh of slight frustration.

"Why do have to bring a human with us?" he asked himself out loud, "We'd have to babysit them the would way, and once we get the walls, they aren't going to be of any use in fight." His sister, Lilith, jabbed him with her elbow.

"Stop being such a downer," she said with a grin, "there are plenty of humans that can fight a titan, right?" The question was directed at Jane, who was clearly lost in thought. Her head jerked up, realising the question was aimed at her.

"Well, most humans cannot really fight a titan in the way Luke wants," Jane said, rubbing her head sheepishly. A smug grin grew across Luke's face.

"But, I think there is one person that fits Luke's bill," she stated, "quite perfectly". Luke's grin vanished as one grew on Jane's face. She grabbed Luke's arm and shot forward, flying just above the ground, pulling Luke behind her.

"Come on," she shouted, "I'll show you him!" Lilith let out a sigh. She was already being left behind. That simply wouldn't do. The earth around her rose up, encasing her in sphere, before rolling after her friends.

The trio finally came to a stop in front of a medium sized hut, obviously a workshop of sorts, with a wrench and a hammer nailed next to the front door. Luke turned around, looking at the two, who were now clearly snickering.

"I take back what I said about not wanting babysit someone," Luke said, about ready to double time it away from the hut.

"Why, are you scared of him?" his sister taunted.

"No," Luke snarled, "I'm simply aware of his grandmother's reputation".

"Luke," Jane stated, clearly already having enough of the argument, "you wanted someone who could kill a titan on their own. Ian is that human. Take it or leave it".

"Fine," Luke sighed, relenting on the matter. However, before he could even knock on the door, a explosion echoed from within the workshop. Jane and Lilith almost tore down the door, charging into the workshop. Thankfully the explosion wasn't large, the smoke quickly exiting the building, revealing a skinny man with blond hair and his face and glasses covered in some form of black residue, most likely left over from the explosion. He took off his glasses before wiping them with a rag that he pulled out of his pocket. Only after placing them on his face did he notice is visitors.

"Ah, Jane and Lilith," he grinned gleefully, "to whom do I owe the honor of your visit?" He didn't bother wiping off his face yet, most likely due to him being nearly finished with whatever his project was. Jane let out a sheepish grin again.

"Actually Ian, this is about you could do for us," She said, causing Ian to blink.

"I am assuming that you are aware of what our mother found five years ago," Luke stated flatly, now entering the building at last.

"You're talking about the giant walls with the humans within them right?" Ian nodded, "Yes, I've heard about that".

"Jane, Lilith and I have been assigned to go to these walls to aid the humans against the shifters that destroyed the first wall," Luke explained, "and we need to bring a human from here as a method of saying 'trust us'".

"And you want me to be the olive branch of diplomacy," Ian said, "And I'm also going to guess that you didn't want to take someone who wasn't able to fight". He jabbed his thumb towards the back of the workshop to a red and silver suit of armor. Jane snickered while Lilith broke out laughing.

"And you now my brother how well again?" she rasped while cackling. Ian simply shurged.

"I'm more than willing to help, but I'm going to do some packing first," Ian said as he touched his face, "and wash my face". The laughing that had just started to die down came back to life.

Ian had quickly begun his packing job. First was a toolbox with extra supplies, along with extra power batteries and some scrap metal, in case of repairs. Second was food, mostly canned. Hopefully it would be used only if he couldn't find any food on the move, but it didn't stop him from packing a lot of it. A hanging sleepbag was next, and outright genius choice, if he said so himself. He also made a grab at a few changes of clothes. He was going to have to wash them when they finally arrived but it was better than nothing. Of course, he still had to put all that into one storage compartment, which was thankfully large enough fit everything. With everything packed, Ian climbed into the control center. The suit began to power up. Within the suit, he lifted his left arm, making the robot copying the action. Lowering the his left, he held his right hand in front of him before activating the energy lance. Thunderstike's right arm shifted, revealing a box with a single hole in it. The weapon came to life, easily close to a meter in length. Finally the top began to close, completely sealing Ian inside the armored suit. Suit began to walk foward with a noisy clanging, before exiting the workshop. Then the jetpacks came online, launching him airborne at breakneck speeds.

Jane let out sigh as she saw the suit touch back down. The landing was noisy. Very noisy. Still, her plan wasn't affected by this.

"So?" Ian's voice echoed from the suit, "How are we getting there?" Jane grinned.

"Getting to the walls on foot would take almost three months, more if we all have to go was fast as are slowest," Jane said in analytical tone. Lilith mad a sour face at the remark, but kept quiet.

"To get to the walls faster, I will be carrying us until it is time to land for the night. Not only do we deal with less resistance in terms of friction, but we also don't have fight as much, because Ian is with us," she said, one of those grins growing across her face. At mention of his name, Ian made a slight wave. Luke let out a sigh.

"That's quite the plan Jane," Luke stated, but it's the best we have. How long will it take to get the walls with your plan?"

"I expect to shave off two weeks of travel," Jane grinned, "and Ian," Ian turned around at the mention of his name. "If you burn me with that jetpack system of your's, I will fry your ass off with lightning". Ian giggled while doing a slight salute.

"Yes ma'am".

Today we are two day's out from the village. Apparently we are also supposed to keep a journal of what happened during the trip. We all drew straws to determine the order of whose turn it was. So lets see. There were three Titan's in our landing site for the night, so Jane ate well enough. I managed to get a deer myself. The lance thankfully cooks and kills in a single strike, or else my meal would have been a pain in the ass. Luke and Lilith are still out hunting. A note for when I return. Make the suit more comfortable. Not only do I feel like a size ten foot shoved into a size four boot, staying inside that thing all day leaves me with cramps.

-Ian

Ten day out and I'm already bored out of my mind. Should have brought something to do during the day. Sitting my ass on Jane for hours on end is just bland.

-Lilith

Twentieth night since we left. Carrying everyone is leaving me exhausted, but we are making great progress. Thirty more days give or take. A lot less if the weather holds out for the entire trip.

-Jane

Around half way through our journey to the walls. We rested at what I think is an old weather control class tower. Either way, doubt Ian got any sleep last night, with him scrounging up whatever old world tech he could salvage. I'll have to tell Jane to stay away from old world buildings for our trip.

-Luke

Day forty, and we are either closer to walls than Jane thought or something crazy is going on. Found some ruins, and strangely enough, a part of it has a mural on the walls and ceiling. It shows something that I think are wall, along with humans and titan's fighting. However, the ceiling is the most horrifying. The ceiling's mural is clear depiction of a Gorgon, covering the whole ceiling. Could there be really be none feral Gorgons within the walls? And if it's true, who's side is it on?

-Ian

Estimated fifteen more days once this storm blows over. Thankfully Jane found a cave before the storm struck. Ian's been a bit unnerved since his trip to the ruin. While it is a bit creepy that the mural depicts a Gorgon, I'm just willing to bet whoever made it just saw it from afar. Besides, in between the four of us, we should be able to take on of those oversized insects no problem.

-Lilith

Twelve more days but I feel like we are being watched. Not saying it in front of Ian though, his jumpy enough after his little find, not that I blame him. Either way, this feels like a more curious watching than on of hostile observation. Could have sworn I spotted a Wraith following us from bellow. Looked like a tier one, so not a threat. But what is a tier one doing out here? Probably a feral.

-Jane

Ten more days until we find the walls hopefully. We found a small girl by the name of Ren. How she has lived out here is unknown and a curiosity. However, if we return her to the walls, I'm willing to bet her parents will be quite happy.

-Luke

I think I can see the walls on the horizon. Thanks to the fact there are no humans on the first wall anymore, we are able to come at it without stealth. Oh and Ren's a Wraith, probably should mention that. Luke is pretty damn pissed out it, but she saved my ass in the middle of the night, so it's fine by me.

-Ian

It's about damn time. We finally are within the walls. We are resting in a small village between the first and second. In the morning we finish going north. Here is to having go acroding to our little diplomacy plan.

-Lilith

"Everyone ready?" Luke shouted, "And Ren, stay here. Jane will be back to pick you up". The little girl let out giggle, before transforming into her wraith form and shooting off, likely to catch herself morning meal.

"So the plan is have me carry you, Ian, and Lilith too the wall, drop you guys off, then come back and get Ren, while you guys talk it out with the guardians on the wall?" Jane asked, shaking her head. There was really no plan of diplomacy on this one, just a 'you need to trust us and let us help you' minor inventive. If things went south, there was no fall back point.

"That's the jist of it," Luke confirmed. Jane let out a sigh, mist condensing around her body, changing into Kraken. Everyone climbed on top of her back, then she lifted herself into the air, heading toward the southern most district on the wall. The district otherwise known as Trost.


	3. Battle for Trost: Part One

Caira let out a sigh of frustration as a small group of people converged around Sasha and her stolen meat. Her partener in cleaning the canon, Alexander, didn't even bother with a response.

"She's going to get in trouble if she keeps doing that," the brown eyed girl. Alexander stopped wiping the cannon in annoyance.

"Maybe she would stop if two certain someones stopped helping her whenever she got in trouble," he responded. Caira gave him an angry look, before continuing with her work. Alexander however, didn't return to his work. He squinted, looking off into the distance.

"Hey," he said, "do you see that?" Pointing off into the distance. Caira wanted to roll her eyes, but decided to indulge him.

"You're talking about that giant black dot, right?" she questioned. Alexander nodded.

"I think it's moving. It has to be very large if we can see it from here," he stated blandly.

"What do you think it is?" Caira asked. The larger male shrugged, before a twinkle of mischief glinted in his eyes. Caira let out an audible gulp.

"Maybe it's a flying Titan," Alexander teased. She shuddered slightly. A flying titan would be horrifying. Like the Colossal Titan, a Titan with the ability to fly would make the wall's once again an obsolete defensive measure. However, almost like a the thought itself would make something appear, a bolt of crimson lightning crashed above the gate. As the steam cleared, the face of the massive titan hanged over the gate. Caira let out a gasp of fear, frozen in place, while Alexander shouted "Shit!" In one swift move, the titan kicked the gate, the blast of air knocking everyone of the wall and creating a new gaping wound in the wall. The Titan's were free to enter Trost.

Meanwhile on the giant "dot", three onlookers watched in shock as the crimson bolt flashed through the sky. However, unlike their counterparts on the wall, their reaction was immediate.

"GO!" Luke shouted at the top of his lungs. Ian lept off Jane before firing off the thrusters on the suit, shooting forward like a rocket towards the massive titan. Jane herself picked up the pace as well, closing the distance as rapidly as she could.

"Lilith, when we get into range, I want you the through me over the wall," Luke ordered, "Jane, drop my sister off on top of the wall, then go get Ren".

"And what do you want me to do?" Lilith asked. Luke's grin was something akin to jealousy, causing her to grow curious

"Rain your Magma Bombs down from the wall sister," he said. "Afterwards find Ian and I down below when Jane returns. We will retreat behind the wall and have her formulate a better plan." Jane let out a low pitched rumble in response.

Ian gritted his teeth, quickly redirecting the energy for the force-field into the thrusters to close the distance with even greater speed.

"C'mon you son of a bitch," he said to himself as he leveled his left arm with his target, "stay right there". His fingers squeezed the trigger as the gun roared to life, launching it's shells toward the Colossal Titan. The volley found it's mark at the base of the Titan's back, each one exploding with tremendous force. His grin of confidence turned to that of shock.

"Blast," Ian snarled to himself. The Titan's skin was so durable the shell's didn't even damage it. However, the creature turned his sights on him. This time he leveled the anti-aircraft battery at the creature's left eye.

"Let's see your eyes can take the same punishment as your ass!" Ian roared, squeezing the trigger. The gun let out several loud 'thunk' as it fired its payload. However, the creature roared in pain as the shells slam into it's eye, destroying it entirely. Ian touched down on the wall, leveling his left arm with the Colossal Titan's face. So focused was he on his target he barely noticed the movement of its shoulder and right arm. Thankfully, his suit didn't. Warning signals flashed as the suit picked up the movement, snapping Ian out of his focus, before noticing himself and firing the thrusters, getting him above the Colossal Titan's sweeping arm. There was another human, most likely one of the soldiers who had been on the wall when the creature appeared that had joined him in the fight. The kid as likely a year or two younger than him, with brown hair and piercing green eyes. He had gotten up and around the beast, before it stared straight at him with his one good eye.

"Hey ugly!" Ian shouted, voice distorted through the armored suit, "over here!" The Colossal Titan ignored the taunting, making a grab at the boy. The male grinned within the suit, as the suit began discharging electricity. The thrusters fired, launching the armored suit in an arc, impacting into the Titan's arm. Like with gun's on his left arm, the damage was minimal, nearly non existent. Ian shoot forward along the creature's arm, teeth gritted in frustration. His grandmother had build this suit to bring down Titan's, and against this thing, it was doing next to nothing. Out of the corner of his eye he watched as Luke's mist enshrouded body flew over the wall. He quickly refocused, closing in the Titan's weak spot, the nape. Ian hovered above it for a split second, before rocketing forward along with the human. A split second before their blows struck, the titan let out a powerful blast of steam, knocking the mech suit backwards.

"Like hell," Ian snarled through gritted teeth, "you aren't getting away from me!" The thrusters fired off, pushing against the gale force winds that Colossal Titan was producing. The human to his right had the same idea, forcing his gear to the limit. Ian's right arm shot forward, plasma lance armed as Eren's twin blades were aimed slice through the Titan's. However, the two struck nothing but empty air.

"That piece of shit," Ian growled under his breath. The thing vanished into thin air. How was it able to do that? Ian suddenly felt himself falling, firing off the thrusters again, reaching the wall at the same time as Jane and Lilith. Jane quickly turned around, intent on getting Ren.

"New marching orders?" Ian asked, unloading the string of empty shells from his gun, pulling the fresh shells into place.

"Get down to the ground and help my brother," Lilith snapped, "I'll be on artillery duty". The five soldiers on the wall looked at them in confusion, having no idea what they were saying. Ian let out a grin.

"Good luck and give them hell," Ian said, with Lilith giving a nod. Mist had already begun surround her as Ian jumped off the wall. Her body began to grow, increasing in size and in mass. Despite the misty shroud, the body was clearly massive. As the wind blew, the mist dissipated, revealing a massive eight meter creature covered in a rocky hide. Hunched over on all fours, the five drew their weapons in panic. However the creature seemed to pay them no mind. The creature brought itself up slightly, almost like it was about to spit, and spit it did. A massive red orb launched itself out of the Behemoth's mouth, sailing off towards the horizon. Ten seconds later, a the sound of massive explosion reached the soldier's ears, followed by roars of pain from what could only have been a Titan.

 **Timeskip**

"We're within range," Lilith said with a grin, "you ready?" Luke nodded, watching the fight between Ian and the Colossal Titan. He grinned slightly as it's roars of pain from losing it's eyes reached his ears. Ian was trying to play at crippling it, and appeared to have everything under control. Lilith grabbed her brother's arm before flinging him with all of her strength. Sailing through the air was nothing new to him, and thanks to his sister's strength, he made it over the wall. Calling mist around his body, he felt himself beginning to drop as more mass was added to his body. It was gone quickly, but he found himself with another smokescreen as he hit the streets of Trost. The street, along with the rock and earth underneath it, were sent violently upward and outward. He had partially built a small crater all by himself, and while he couldn't see his foes, he could certainly smell them. He pulled up a massive stone, then inhaled, finding a thirteen meter Titan.

The human's on the wall's where almost quaking in fear. The Colossal Titan returning? Deep down many knew that it would be back. But the this new thing that slammed into the ground out of the middle of nowhere? The cloud of dust and earth shifted, before parting as a massive boulder was thrown upwards, then arcing down towards a thirteen meter titan that had just stepped through the gate. It's head and nape were crushed as the boulder fell into it's body. A ten meter titan was close behind, ignoring it's fallen comrade. Caira herself expected another rock, but this time the creature itself lept out the dusty cloud, it's meaty fist crushing the titan's skull as fourteen meter creature slammed into it from above.

The creature opened its mouth to the sky, letting out a massive roar. Even Alexander flinched at the noise. It wasn't just to make noise. It was letting everything know that is was here. Here to fight, here to protect, here to kill any that threaten it. It was a challenge. The creature lowered its head as another primal roar echoed from it's maw. Each earth shaking roar was louder than the last. Alexander blinked.

"Is it getting warmer?" Caira asked, now confused about what was going on. Alexander let out a nod. It wasn't just him. The fourteen meter Goliath stepped twice towards the gate, before opening it's mouth once again. Caira covered her ears so she wouldn't hear its roar again, but this time there was no roar. Instead, a torrent of bright blue flame exited the creature's maw, followed by the sound of burning flesh. The creature then moved back to the corpse of the decaying ten meter, before opening its maw. The cadets gasped as they watched the creature do the unthinkable.

"What is that thing doing?" Cakra said in shock. "Is it really eating a Titan?" The sound of the creatures feast spoke for itself. The rending of flesh and snapping of bones where the only thing that was heard. The beast only stopped the the arrival of more Titan's. The creature advanced slowly on them, unleashing another gout of flame. The man eating monstrosities roared in pain as blue flame seared their flesh, the healing abilities that would normally soften most blows now working against them, their rapidly healing flesh adding more fuel to the blaze. The three slumped over as flames consumed their napes, regeneration unable to keep up with the strain. Connie and Thomas had gone up to check on, or at least support Eren. Two garrison soldiers also went up the wall, but remainder of the cadets watched the fourteen meter creature below. Killing, and eating.

The three cadets saluted at the arrival of the two members of the Garrison that had arrived. While the arrival of the seven meter tall flying, well, thing was the only word they could to describe it, was unnerving, it left quickly enough. Leaving behind a tall, muscular girl wearing nothing but a mixture of black and red. Her chattering in a language that none of them had never heard of to an armored suit almost made Eren question if she was sane. However, it was the one that started the conversation. The suit lept off the wall almost at the same time as a Garrison soldier arrived.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked in a rhetorical manor. "The strategy for handling a Colossal Titan's appearance is already in motion".

"Return to HQ immediately!" The second shouted, "Anyone who had contact with it, report every detail!"

"Yessir!" Eren shouted.

"I pray for your success!" Connie said afterwards. The two soldiers of the Garrison turned their attention to the woman.

"Ma'am, I am going to have to ask," The man was cut off be increasing mist surrounding the girl. The shroud kept growing, the faint outline of a creature was visible but just that. The mist finally settled around a form that would have to at least eight meters tall, but much wider. Eren himself blinked in shock as the mist was blown away. The creature was unlike anything had ever seen before, even in Armin's books. The creatures had tusks the size of the person it had come from, covered in a massive, rocky hide. He and everyone around him drew their swords.

"What the hell is that thing?" Connie asked, fear audible in his voice. The Behemoth either didn't notice the weapons, or even more likely, didn't care. The massive body pulled itself upwards, bringing it's chest and head parallel to the wall.

"It looks like it's about to spit," Thomas said, slightly edgy about the creature. One the Garrison soldier looked at the blond like he had lost his mind, before the creature made a retching noise. The creature's stony face peeled back, revealing pale flesh and a least three eyes, before spitting a giant red orb from it's mouth. The orb sailed into the distance, seeming to accomplish nothing, until a massive explosion reached the group's ears, followed by bellowings of pain. The thing had stuck a Titan down, from a range? It was acting like a cannon. The Garrison soldier grit his teeth. This thing was acting as a cannon, and from the looks of it, a very accurate one at that. Well if wanted to help, he would be a fool to complain about it. They very well might hold the district with this things assistance, and alongside the massive killing machine on the ground, they should be able to hold the breach until nightfall at least.

"Go!" he shouted, "Get to HQ now! That's an order!"

"Yessir!" the three cadets echoed, activating their 3D Maneuvering Gear. The Garrison soldier looked up at the massive creature.

"If we live through this I'll buy you a beer," he said, not expecting the beast to understand him. It gave a snort in response, before rearing back to fire of another one if it's spitballs. There was work to be done.

 **I have two things I want to say to two reviews I got from my OC character Bio's for this story. The first is from a guest, who asked "** **As a side question, could Eren become an evolved, specifically a Goliath?" First off, thank you for asking a question that could affect the story, especially one that I never thought up of myself. I thank you for asking this question, and I will give you the response of sadly, no. Eren will be a normal titan shifter in this series, but it is a very good idea. And Goliath would be very benefiting of Eren's "fiery" personality. I thank you for submitting this review and hope you continue to read the story. Another review I want to address was from another guest is "How about you get on with the fucking story already!". I don't know whether this is more of a "the OCs are getting updated but the main story isn't" deal or this is something else. However, I will explain why this chapter may seem late. After I first heard about Gorgon, I wanted to have it in the story. However, I didn't have a name for the monster, or what it's abilities were. When I heard the monster was to be released on the 3rd of November, I decided to wait a little. Alexander's character profile was written on the second due to Gorgon downloading slightly early for me, and I had played the character a bit. Most of my characters have a trait from the monster they transform into, such as Luke being hot-headed and Jane being calculating, so on and so forth. I'm also in college, currently in a COP 1 class and in Public speaking, so I have to do a lot of typing anyway, so updates may be few and far between because of burnout or shear workload. Plus, I like it when people review makes me feel more motivated (part of the reason this thing got out so fast (plus my hometown baseball team won the world series, so school got canceled)). Well anyone, thank you for whoever read through this massive block of text. Have a nice day and happy hunting.**


	4. Battle for Trost: Part Two

"Fire!" one of the commanders shouted, followed by the firing of several cannon and launching of another lava bomb into the oncoming swarm of Titan's. Lilith however was firing off three of her lava bomb's for every time the cannons were fired, and still wasn't making a dent in the massive horde's numbers. Her main bomb may take out one or two, and the leftovers that remained easily could burn off a limb, but with their numbers it was like trying to stop a forest fire with a bucket of water. Like the human's at the top of the wall, she could see that there wasn't an end in sight to the Titan's numbers. She reared back, launching another lava bomb towards a target. But to the human's horror, despite the early counter attack, they had already reached the walls.

' _Dammit'_ she thought ' _they need more time.'_ The massive Behemoth let out a bellow, a massive wall of stone erecting itself in front of the gate. It was temporary though, and it wasn't going to hold. She just hoped that it gave more time for more soldiers to get the front lines. Lilith reared upwards once again, sending a lava bomb sailing towards her target.

' _It's all up to you now brother.'_

"Do you think we can trust them?" one of the Garrison soldiers whispered. After setting up the net and barricades in front of the now destroyed gate, did they finally notice the Goliath inside the district and the Behemoth raining fire down from the wall. Panic nearly broke out among the Garrison's member until they noticed the creature remained, for the most part, still. While the creature's chest rose and fell with it's breathing, and tail twitch in anticipation, it showed no hostility toward the human's that had gathered around the gate. Some level of assurance also came from a human like voice coming out of a massive suit of armor. While many didn't want to trust them, the lack of hostility and the sheer possibility that they brought a human with them was enough to stay any attack on the massive beasts. While he did share his name, Ian Whelan, the name was not one they had heard before, and his speech was weird as well. Some words just simply came out strange, or he used a different tongue entirely.

"And what is your appraisal of the situation, Mr., Whelan, was it?" A commander asked to the silver and red colored suit of armor.

"Just call me Ian," a voice responded back, "and I'm not a soldier, but I feel that everything is absolutely fucked." The commander winced.

"But you're not a soldier, so why would you think," he started before Ian interrupted.

"Because you're trying to use numbers to win. Your throwing more meat into a giant ass grinder. Against Titan's, that type of strategy is shit. You need small, skilled groups that can bring down their quarry, not shove a Titan' next meal straight into their faces." Ian snapped, "And your cannon's are shit, but that's something I can at least fix." The commander's mouth dropped to the floor in shock before a massive rumbling went was heard, as a massive wall of rock ripped itself out of the earth.

"Shit," a muttered voice came out of the suit, pointing the massive gun on its left arm towards the gate.

"One-thousand one, one-thousand two, one-thousand three, one-thousand four, one-thousand five," the voice in the suit counted. "I hope your ready commander, because here they come." The stone barricade slow began to fall away, allowing the Titan's to slowly advance through the gate. Multiple noises were heard. Screams of panic, to bellow's of rage, all drowned out by the ear splitting roar of a Goliath and the dull thunks of an anti-aircraft battery.

"Just like in the training, split up into your individual squads," ordered Kitts Woerman, a captain of the garrison forces, "You will be under Garrison command. Your duties are to assist in providing supplies, communications, and sweeping up the Titans!"

"The first line of defense will be the frontline unit of the Garrison!" he continued, "The second will be the cadet squads under our command! The rearguard will be the Garrison's elite unit's! We have already received word that the vanguard has almost been wiped out!" Multiple gasps went up, followed by whispering.

"No way," Caira whispered to Alexander, "there were two massive beasts killing the titan's. They couldn't have been pushed back already!" Alexander gritted his teeth in slight annoyance. It was a natural reaction on her part, but even he know that likely the one at least was being drowned in numbers and likely didn't want to risk friendly fire with it's own firebreath. Add that with the fact that the creatures had no idea what the Garrisons strategy is, and you had the potential for a real mess.

"The outer gate was destroyed, and the Titans have encroached upon the city!" he went on, ignoring the whispering, "This means that the Armored Titan might show up any moment to breach the inner gate!" The whispering being to intensify at the mention of the Armored Titan.

"Silence!" Katts bellowed, having had enough of the noise. "The frontline guards are already in combat! There is only one goal to this defensive operation: defending Wall Rose until all civilians are evacuated! Also, in case you forgot, let me remind you that deseration is a capital offense! Vow on your hearts to devote your lives! Dismissed!" A loud shout went up from the cadets, before they scattered to get into their squads.

"He didn't mention either of the two things fighting out there," She said to herself, slightly annoyed that their commanding officer didn't bother to share that there were at least two things in Trost that weren't human but killing Titans.

"Because he didn't want any more panic," he stated blandly, "people are already stressed out enough as it stands." Almost to prove his point, someone began throwing up on the ground not to far away.

"Let's get to our squads," he said before walking off.

"Shit!" Ian bellowed at the top of his lungs, narrowly dodging a swipe from a fourteen meter Titan. Pulling the trigger for his weapon, the gun thundered to life, launching shell's into the titan's neck. The explosion ripped the creature's neck wide open, making it pause due to the severity of its wounds. The thrusters fired off, sending him up and around the creature's body, allowing him to line up a shot to the nape. He pulled the trigger, sending two rounds into the Titan's nape, killing it instantly. He came down with a loud crash, landing on a nearby rooftop. After the rock wall had gone down, Luke had all but charged into the breach. He had held out for a little while, but it quickly became apparent that there were simply too many Titan's for him to keep at bay, and once he got pushed out of the breach, things went to hell. Despite his and Luke's best efforts, the human force was simply outclassed and outnumbered. Luke couldn't use his fire breath or throw any rocks at his foes, due to the flying humans. Now that he had seen the gear in action, he had almost gone green with envy. Ian shook his head.

' _Dammit, Ian, focus,'_ he thought to himself. Dark clouds began rolling in overhead, causing him to grit his teeth inside the armored suit. Hearing the sounds of the 3D Maneuvering Gear, Ian watched as a group of soldiers, from the look of their faces and uniforms, rookies, shot off. From the looks of the things the survivors were trying to regroup. Ian fired off his thrusters, following the group. Hopefully Luke got the same idea, and even more hopefully, Jane would return with Ren soon. But hell if he thought something like that would even the odds. As he shot off, both him and the suit failed to notice something watching from the shadows. The three meter tall creature reared up, letting out a strange chittering noise, before sneaking after the flying human.

Luke let out a mighty roar as the Titans got the net placed over the gate. As he expected it didn't hold up to the stress of the Titan's forcing their way through. As the net came down he charged, closing the distance between him and his foes, knocking them back through the breach with his bulk. While he himself couldn't get through himself, he blocked the gate off with his body. Blue flames erupted from his maw, incinerating any Titan foolish enough to be within the breach. However, a small thing such as fire wouldn't stop the titan's, or the thier lust for human flesh. More and more Titan's began trying to come through the breach. Luke's relentless flurry of tooth, claw, and flame was slowly being pushed back by nothing but sheer numbers. A massive Titan squeezed its way through the breach, only to have Luke's claws take the monster's head off. A smaller Titan that followed, likely abnormal, slammed into Luke's body. He roared in rage, more of shock than pain, as the Titan started pushing against his frame. His massive forearm sent the Titan flying into the wall, but the damage was done. Titan's had begun pouring in as the Garrison sprung into action. The soldier's gear let them fly through the air with ease. Luke snarled.

' _Damn,'_ Luke thought ' _I might hit one of them with my fire breath if I use it now.'_ The Goliath let out a rumbling snarl, lashing out with his massive claws. Things had already started to go downhill as he watched a soldier simply swatted out of the air like a fly. His body was a bloody mess on the Titan's hand. Ian's red and silver mech suit flew past his right eye, rolling around a Titan's arm, launching his lance into it's nape. The Titan crumpled, dead, but for each one brought down, almost two more took their place. Luke brought down an overhand strike, laying the titan before him low, before stepping on its nape. He heard screams as a soldier that had got caught near the gate was eaten alive, blood spraying in the air as the man was chomped in half. The Garrison soldiers were falling like flies in a storm. Despite the fact that between him, Ian, and a few elite troops, had easily racked up nearly two dozen kills, each enemy they brought down was costing them. Ripping off a Titan's head, Luke found himself the center of attention of at least three abnormal's, each one charging at him. While the first was stupid enough, leaping at him like a frog, and was thrown aside like a ragdoll, the other two struck him with their full bodies, forcing him away from the fray. Luke let out a roar in rage, darting forward with speed that belied his bulk, ripping out the first titan's throat with his fangs. A quick slice from his claws finished the creature while the last one ran. Luke's powerful legs launched himself airborne, crashing and landing into the titan's nape.

However, as more Garrison soldiers were killed or eaten, more Titan's began slipping through the defensive. Furthermore, he had lost sight of Ian during the fighting. A single range out as the Garrison began falling back. Once again, Luke charged into the fray, covering the soldier's retreat. ' _Ian you better be able to handle yourself out there. Your on your own for now.'_

Ren caught the smell of something she hadn't smelled in a few years. Well, excluding Ian, of course. But he was only one, and know she smelled several. In the titan's turf as well. The young Wraith knew what that meant very well. She observed this group of humans many times before they stopped paying visits to the woods she had called home. She didn't know why at first but once she found her brothers and sisters, they told her why. The Wraith finished inhaling her meal, still stuck in town. Unlike in the forest where she could easily hide, the flat streets and tall towers meant she was going to be seen at some point. Another sniff brought another smell to her. They brought food. Her body twitched a little with excitement. She felt like she was on the verge of something, and this newfound food would serve her well. Her body warped forward into a hiding spot, ready to ambush her incoming prey.

The humans had already gone past her hiding spot, but they still lingered in the area. Ren would have giggled if she could. They wanted to fight here, the towers and the buildings allowing them to use their flying gear to it's full effect. The thundering footsteps echoed the Titan's approach long before she could smell them. She wondered briefly about how such creatures could exist that have no concept of stealth or subtlety, but discarded the thought quickly. As far as she was concerned, Titan's believed themselves to be top of the food chain, eating only humans, who used to be at the top. A foot slammed down in front of her hiding spot in the alleyway, snapping the young Wraith out of her thoughts. Her body hunched down, coiling itself up like a spring, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Another earth breaking step, and the Titan's nape is wide open. Her body blinked forward, right above the creature's weak spot, before twisting her body around, her scythe like arm-blades cleanly removing the titan's head. She heard the gasp of a few humans as the Titan fell to the ground with a crash. Warping down the ground this time, her body shot forward, not even touching the ground. Another sniff through her nostrils revealed two more titans. Blinking around a corner brought her to two titans nearly four times her height. Something within her body. It felt slow to her, but to those who watched, it happened in an instant. The wraith's cells begun duplicating at an increasing rate, with the newly formed double ripping itself off of the original's body.

The new clone shot forward as the original faded from view. Ren slightly giggled at her favorite trick, her little decoy providing her with a distraction. She ducked around a nearby building, scaling up the side with her claws. Her decoy warped straight into the first Titan, running trough the Titan's nape with it's claws. The second Titan brought it's hand down on the decoy. The hastily cloned body fell apart under the assault, but the damage was done. Ren pounced from the rooftop, her claws rending the second Titan's nape, bringing it down to the ground with a thud. She inhaled through her nostrils, keeping track of a handful of humans who had gathered on the rooftops around her. Ren's stomach rumbled from the food in front of her. She opened her mouth to inhale her food as she heard shouting. She quickly pinpointed the noise, launching herself forward through the streets, picking up the scent of a human trapped in the grasp of a Titan. It raised the human up above it's mouth, intent on dropping the small man straight into it's gaping maw. The titan let the human go as Ren's body shot forward, grabbing the human mid-fall, before warping back to her original position. She carefully placed the now discombobulated human on the ground, before bringing herself to her full height, her arm blades pointed upward to make herself larger. The Titan wasn't ditured by her display, angered the strange creature had dared take away it's food. Ren let out a hiss as the titan stepped closer. However, a noise reached her ears, and a familiar scent filled her nostrils. The Titan dropped the ground in a flash, nape cut out with ease. Ren's hisses of anger turned into chirping with glee. He was with them. The really, really powerful human that killed titan's even more efficiently than her brothers and sisters! Her body twitched in excitement as she shot forward, aiming toward a titan with a mustache. The titan was busy, ramming it's face into a building, trying to get a bite out of two humans on the ground, and was quickly distracted by another. The brunette landed on the rooftop behind the Titan, almost taunting it? Ren couldn't understand her, but the brown hair girl, dodged a grab, going in for a kill that was rightfully her's. Ren warped forward, getting between her and the titan, making the brown haired female back off. Ren let out a chirping noise as she spun, her arm blades cutting through the nape like a knife cutting through butter. She raised her noise to the air, trying to sniff out any more Titans. Thankfully, not a single Titan was left in the area. The Wraith lowered her head to her meal, and began to inhale the titan's flesh.

Hange, however, was almost freaking out. First a strange, while, whatever it was, interrupted her kill, but killed the titan itself and was now eating it. Well eating was a loss term. The creature, smaller than ever a three meter Titan, was inhaling the titan's flesh. The two soldiers next to her backed away from the creature slowly, blades still drawn.

"This is unprecedented!" Hange gasped in glee, "something with ability to eat a Titan! That's incredible!" She stepped closer, despite protests from the two behind her. Saying the creature was strange would be an understatement. It was smaller than a Titan, but only just barely. It also had no legs, something very strange. However, it was able to float slightly above the ground. Air sacks to decrease its weight, perhaps? It had no eyes, not even sockets, likely relying on hearing and smell to find its prey. The fact that it had four arms was also strange. She had seen what the upper arms could do, not ending in a hand, but a massive blade that the creature used as a sword. The lower pair ended in a hand with four fingers, each one equipped with razor sharp claws. The thing had finally finished its meal, leaving nothing but steaming bone behind. Hange reached out and touched what would have had to be the creature's thigh. That was something the creature didn't like, however, letting out a massive screeching noise, warping away from the scientist's touch.

"Hey! Don't run away!" Hange pouted, as the creature backed itself away from her, clearly more startled and scared by her than she was of it. It let out a hiss in response, raising the spike like quills on its back, attempting look larger than it actually was. Hange cocked her head to the side. No, it wasn't trying to appear larger. It was actually growing! Slowly the creature's body curled up into a ball, body becoming covered in a black slime, hardening into a cocoon like structure on the ground. An annoyed Levi landed not to far away.

"Shit glasses," Levi said coldly, "what are you doing to create all this noise?" Hange simply pointed at the nearly four meter tall cocoon in the middle of the road. The thing was still growing, and the creature's heartbeat echoed from within the protective shell.

"I have no idea what it is!" Hange said giddily, "it eats Titans for food somehow, and now it's doing this. It's like a giant titan killing butterfly, except it has sword hands!" Levi almost raised an eyebrow as the what was inside the cocoon stopped moving. Everything felt still, if only for a second. Suddenly, massive spikes burst out of the top of the structure, nearly double size of what originally went in. The shell began to fail apart as the creature trashed within, letting out bellows, making all but Levi and Hange to clamp down on their ears to block out the noise. Hange gasped in shock. Whatever the creature did, it's growth was abnormally rapid. It spent only a minute inside the structure, but the beast was easily double it's original size. The creature finally stopped convulsing as the last of the shell fell apart, bringing itself up to its newfound five meter height. It didn't seem hostile however. The creature, turned its head skyward, letting out harsh clicks, almost like it was trying to find something. A crash came from behind them, causing the group to turn around. Hange let out a squeal of joy. Another strange creature, one that had appeared almost out of nowhere, was behind them. Around seven meters in height and walking on all fours, it stepped over them, almost carefully trying not to step on them. The two were completely different, forcing Hange to try and calm herself. The smaller of the two started making chirping like noise, almost like that of a birds, while the larger, let out low rumbles.

"Their talking to each other!" Hange squealed almost bouncing in excitement, "They're actual intelligence!" The larger of the two turned it's head toward her, and despite it's four eyes and weird looking face, she could have sworn that she saw a look of disbelief on it's face. The smaller gave off maybe a nod, returning the larger one's attention back to itself. Suddenly it's body slowly began to turn into a mist like substance, rapidly swirling and condensing. Hange blinded in surprise and Petra gasped. Even Levi himself raised an eyebrow. In one second the five meter Wraith had turned into a small girl! The child suddenly vanished from view, only to appear on top of the seven meter creature's head. Winds began to like up as the beast lifted itself off the ground, shooting northward at high speed. Abnormal fast, almost like it was in a hurry of sorts. Hange blinked. ' _Wait, northward. But that's right towards,'_ she didn't get the chance to finish her thoughts as Erwin shout.

"We're going back!"

Ian swore as rain had begun to pour down. He had meet up with the group of survivors, and each and every fucking one was a green recruit, and they had all given up hope.

"We need to help them," Luke snapped angrily, flame nearly exiting his maw in rage.

"Are you dense Luke?" Ian bellowed back, "they don't even want to help themselves! We can't help them if they don't even want to go on living!" Luke was livid in rage, the only thing stopping him for trying to melt the suit into slag was the rain itself.

"It doesn't fucking matter whether they want our help or not," Luke shouted back, no longer caring about the stares they were getting, "They're going to get our help whether they like it or not! That even means if I have to carry all of these cowards on my back to do so, I will!" Ian let out a sigh of annoyance, letting Luke know that he won the argument. One of the girl's, one with brown hair, ran about trying to get her fellow cadets in action, but nothing seemed to work.

Caira watched the two strange newcomers with interest. They certainly weren't soldier's, that much was for sure. A matter a fact, she seemed to be the only one who even carried about them. The only person who was moving besides her was Sasha, trying to rally the survivors but failing. Everyone, including Armin, the best friend of the energetic Eren, was still, almost clearly the last man standing in his squad. Most squads had been wiped, and while hers fared better than some of the other's, her group had lost two. She heard rumors that Alexander's squad was also wiped out, something that almost made her want to crawl up into a ball and die. However, she didn't think Alexander would want that, so she said on her feet, at least willing to fight for her life. She heard muttering with the arrival of Mikasa Ackerman. At the same time a loud crash and several panic screams made her turn her head, before falling back in shock. It was the creature that had been flying toward the wall. Two humans slipped off the beast's back. The first was tall, almost as tall as Bertholt himself, her hair almost a silvery color, hanging around her shoulder level. Her clothing was something she had never seen before, it was mostly black, made up of an unknown material. The second was a nothing more than a little girl. Her black hair matching her eyes, and wearing something like a dress, which was also black. The girl suddenly vanished, reappearing on top of the red and silver suit of armor. She gasped as the flying, seven meter creature began to fade into mist, body condensing into that of yet another girl with silver hair and blue eyes. Her clothing consisted of a very long skirt, almost bordering a dress, and a brown-green shirt.

"Jane it's about time," Luke greeted harshly, getting a snarl from her in response.

"I not only had to deal with the fact Ren here," she stated in a pissed off tone, "had just evolved and is very hungry, but I still had to pick Lilith up." The two glared at eachother, before Lilith pulled the two apart.

"Today's been a bad and long day for all of us," she snapped at the two, "so let's just get today over with."

"We need to get them at least on the move so they can get more supplies," Ian interrupted, "but all they want to do is lay down and die. If we could get them to push, we would stand a chance, but if we don't hurry, they'll be surrounded and eaten." Jane gave off a nod. These human's despair was nearly palpable. But if they could be inspired. She grit her teeth in rage. To inspire them would be so simple, yet it would be so hard. Not only did she not know a single one of them personally, she wasn't one of them. If one of their own had the courage and will to fight, than another would back them up, then another, then another, resulting in a cascade of soldiers willing to fight for their lives.

"Luke, I want you on the left flank," Jane ordered, the Goliath nodded, powerful legs launching himself across the rooftops with ease. "Lilith, I want you on the right." The Behemoth grinned, grabbing hold of a black haired girl.

"Carry me to your right flank, if you will," the girl with light grey hair said as she grabbed ahold of Caira.

"Me?" Caira gasped at rude grasping of her arm.

"Yes you," Lilith said, "And if you live through this I'll owe you a date." Caira felt heat rise in her face as she carried the girl to the right flank.

Ian shook his head. Only Lilith would ask somebody out in the middle of enemy territory.

"Ren and Ian," Ian turned his head back to Jane, "I want you two on front-guard. Whoever's leading the charge, I want you two to back them up." He gave a thumbs up with the suit, considering that a nod couldn't be seen through the suit. Ren mimicked the action, before her stomach let out a loud rumbling sound.

"I'm hungry," the small girl complained, pout clear on her face. Ian pat the small child on the head.

"Once we're finished with this, you'll have a lot of food, I promise," he said, causing the girl to grow an ear splitting grin, letting out multiple giggles. These giggles stopped as the someone talking, no, crying would be a better word or the tone that was almost drenched in sobs.

"Our unit. The thirty-fourth cadet unit." The voice sobbed, making Ian's body twitch inside the suit with rage. ' _They're all fucking cadets! Why are nothing but poorly trained soldiers a part of this type of operation? Who's idea was this bullshit?'_ "Thomas Wagner. Nic Tuis. Mvlius Zeramuski. Mina Caroline. Eren Jaeger." Now the suit itself quaked in rage. Each name was not only a failure on him, he felt, but also on the incompetence of whoever thought sending in rookies against titan's was ever a bright idea. The boy somehow had the will to keep talking.

"All five of them have fulfilled their duty and died heroic death in battle!" The voice was laced with grief and pain. He could tell Ren wanted to hug the poor boy, who looked even younger than he was. Whispering broke out, clearly the new's discouraged the soldiers even more. The black haired girl in front of him placed one of her hands over his own, trying to get him to calm down. Her tone, the way she started talking, he knew that she was going to lead the charge. Her speech, though lackluster, pretty much called them all moron's or cowards, making him smirk inside his armor.

"You want to fight all those titans by yourself?" Someone shouted, practically falling over themselves at the thought.

"If I can't then I'll simply die. But if I win, I live. If you don't fight you can't win," The black hair girl said with an eerie calmness, before leaping off the building, flying through the air with her gear. Ian grinned within the suit, dropping the spent shells with a loud clank on the ground, drawing some attention towards me as Ren darted forward, mist already encasing her body as she lept from the building. I pull out the next chain of rounds, slapping them into the cannon, stepping towards the buildings edge.

"Under normal circumstances I would say something about wanting to be part of a desperate charge against impossible odds," he said, his excitement clear on his voice, "but sadly these are not impossible odds." Raising the cannon into the air, he fired off two rounds that exploded midair with tremendous force, before activating the thrusters, shooting off behind the Wraith and the girl.

Lilith grinned as the sound of explosions reached her ears, stopping her stretching short.

"What was that?" the brown eyed girl ask, eyes wide in slight panic. Lilith let out a laugh.

"That was a signal," she said, grinning ear to ear almost like someone gone mad.

"A signal? For what?" Caira's eyes were wide in panic.

"It means that one of you soldier's has finally gotten off their asses and going on the attack," Lilith said with glee, "which means I finally I get in on the action!" Caira's mouth dropped to the floor.

"And trust me," the silver haired girl said, "you haven't seen something like me before, and neither have they." Her body was quickly encased in mist, leaping off the rooftop, hitting the ground with an earth shattering crash. In her place was the mighty Behemoth, eight meters of solid rock and flesh. The creature slowly began to move, fists and stubby legs shaking the earth with each step. Caira shook her head. This was insane! However, the massive creature gave her a feeling, a feeling that everything was going to be ok. With this powerful creature on their side, there was no way they could loss. Caira stepped forward, launching herself towards a nearby rooftop.

"Caira!" Someone shouted, "what are you doing?"

"It's our best chance!" she shouted back, "besides, what do we have to loss?"

On the other side of the survivor's, Luke let out a snort as the explosion reached his ears. About time someone had gotten started.

"If you want to stay alive, then follow me," He shouted, "and if you don't, be aware that a seven year old will be showing you up! Now, are you soldiers or are you cowards?" He didn't bother for to wait for a response, leaping off the rooftop, mist encasing his form, slamming into the ground as the mighty Goliath. His roar echoed throughout the district, and his footfalls made the earth quake with each step.

Jane grinned. Like she predicted, if one had enough guts to try, so would another, then another, at least seven more had taken off after her, and remainder of them started moving as well. Mist shrouded her form, growing and warping into the Kraken. The seven meter beast took to the skies, ready to rain death from above her foes. Her roar echoed above the head of the survivor's, who let out a shout in return. If she could have grinned she would have, forcing her body forward and upward, giving herself a bird's eye view of the entire formation.

"Damn!" Ian shouted, "I know was told to back her up, but she doesn't look like she needs it!" The girl who was leading the charge, Mikasa, yes, that was her name, brought down a titan with ease, moving so fast it didn't even have time to react to her presence. Ian gritted his teeth. At this rate he wasn't going to even get a kill. She would simply just kill every titan that crossed her path. With Luke and Lilith covering their flanks, with Ren's speed on the ground and Jane's lightning strikes from above, the only titan's that would get in their way were the ones that would be in front of them. ' _This is going to be easy. In between everyone we have and her, nothing was going to stop them,'_ he thought. Suddenly, her gear stopped working, sending her plummeting out of the air.

"Mikasa!" the blond haired boy flying nearby shouted, flying off after his fallen friend. Another, one with no hair whatsoever, shot off after him, shouting something to, Jean, was it, to lead the rest. Another person dropped out the air, also running out of gas. Ren shot forward, bringing down the six meter that went for him, blade's taking the titan's head clean off. However two more surrounded the two as her body began to glow. Suddenly a strange dome erupted from her body, covering the area in glowing particles, making the Wraith's body almost see through. The two titans closed in on their would be prey, only to be torn to shreds in an instant, soaking the ground with their boiling blood.

"She picked up Supernova?" Ian whispered in shock, flying by the scene. The dome decayed, the Wraith picking up the human, passing him along to someone that could carry the additional weight. However, the two of them couldn't be everywhere at once. Even Jane's long ranged lightning that had brought down more than a few titan's, wasn't able to keep everyone safe. Ian himself snarled was a girl screaming about how she didn't want to die was bitten in half, just as his shots slammed into the titan's nape.

Lilith's tongue latched onto another titan, bringing it into her mouth, crushing it's nape with her immense bite. The right was holding, mostly thanks to her wiping out every titan that dared enter her line of sight, trying to eat the humans under her protection. Normally her form was to slow to keep up the speed of the human's gear, she encased herself into a ball of earth, allowing her to roll at an even greater pace. If the titan was small enough, she would simply flatten it into a blood stain. If it was to large to crush, she herself would emerge, bringing down her massive fists into the titan's body. Based on the noises her group was making, the supply depot was just up ahead.

Luke let out a tremendous below as he ripped a titan in half. Any titan that dared to have the audacity to try and attack the humans under his guard were promptly ripped into pieces. A line of steaming skeleton was the hallmark of his rampage. Cheers erupted from the humans under his protection. They must have been nearing the supply depot. Good. Soon this whole thing would be over.

Unlike both of the flanks, which benefited hugely from the fact that they had two tier three's watching over them, the middle was suffering heavy casualties. Ian's guns rained their explosive payload into titan flesh, bringing down as many as possible. Ren's speed and claw's did heavy damage, but there was simply too many people who needed help, and not enough firepower to help them. However, the group pressed forward, reluctantly using the ones that couldn't be saved as a distraction. However, it became clear that even getting to the gas wasn't going to be easy either.

"Shit!" Ian shouted as the building came into view, "that is a lot of of titans!" The man eating monsters had the whole building surrounded, not just around, but with titans hanging on the walls. Ren warped forward, throwing up another Supernova, dispatching at least five titans that decided that hanging on the wall was a good place to wait for a meal. Ian himself flanked to the other side of the building, anti-aircraft battery unleashing rounds into the titans hanging on the building, allowing an opening for survivors to enter through the windows. Luke and Lilith's roars were heard, signaling the arrival of their groups, the noise they were creating an attempt to draw the titan's attention away from the humans. Unfortunately the same didn't work of him, alarms flared within the suit. Ian turned around just in time, activating a force field as a titan slapped him out of the air, sending him crashing into the building. While the suit itself was unharmed, Ian let out a groan in pain, pulling himself back up to his feet, with his attacker and another titan now staring into the building. Another titan on the other side of the building forced it's head through the stone, looking inside at their prey.

"You want some of this?" Ian shouted, "do you?" pointing the dual cannons on his arm at the face of the two titans. Jane sniffed one, before grabbing his arm and pushing it down.

"Hold your fire!" She shouted, "something's coming." Ian's confused look turned to shock as the edge of a titan sized fist appeared, aimed at the two starting inside.

"What the!" him and Jean shouted at the same time, as the first of a fifteen meter knocked them clear off the building, before letting out an ear splitting roar. Ian spun around to Jane.

"Was that what I thought that was?" Ian said, shock written in his voice.

"Yep," Jane responded flatly, a slight grin twitching across her face.

"Anything else that I need to know before heading back out?" He asked, an eyebrow raised, despite nobody being able to see it.

"There's a Gorgon on the roof," Ian blinked once as a chittering noise was heard, coming from behind the titan with it's head stuck in the wall. It stopped moving as six claws pierced all the way through it's neck, before quickly withdrawing them. The titan fell, revealing it's killer. Ian froze up, staring at the insectoid creature. It's eight eyes scanned the room, mouth twitching. It lept from it's post, but Ian stayed still, body quaking in fear.

"Ian?" Jane asked, snapping her fingers in front of the suit.

"What the hell was that?" Jean shouted.

"Part of how you're getting out of this alive," Jane said, not turning around, "Between a tier one Gorgon, a berserking Titan Shifter, a tier three Goliath, and a tier three Behemoth, no titan can get near this build without getting torn to pieces." Someone opened their mouth.

"Quite. I'll answer your questions once everyone is safe," she glared at the suit, electricity gathering in her hand. The small makeshift lightning bolt crashed into the suit, causing Ian to roar in pain.

"Thank," his voice rasped from within the armor, "I needed that."

"Help them get the gas," Ian said, confidence returning, "I'll keep the Gorgon and that Shifter covered." He charged out of the smaller hole, launching himself through the air.

"You'd rely on a titan's help?" Jean said, almost in shock, but before he could go further, Ren interrupted.

"You're talking about the really big human, right?" she asked, "It doesn't smell like a titan, it smells like a human."

"It's a Titan Shifter, not a titan," Jane said, annoyed with the man, "it may be acting on instinct and rage, but inside it is a very human pilot." Multiple gasps and whispers went up.

"Worry about it later," Jane's tone changed almost immediately, "I can smell at least seven titan's down in the room I assume the supplies are in. Now does anyone have a plan?"

Jane herself was almost shocked by the plan the small, blond haired boy had cooked up. It was bold, but it made so much sense. Use the guns they found to blind all seven titans within the supply room, and have seven of their best ambush them from above, slicing their napes. Well nine if you counted her and Ren, but they were on backup duty. While Jane herself would like to shoot a gun, but the last time she even touched something that used gunpowder it nearly took off her hand, so she had to pass. Ren was to short, and her speed would be needed if more than two people messed up. She grinned at the banter until.

"Or you can just ram your blade up their assholes. That's their other weak spot," said the blonde with short cropped hair.

"What's an asshole?" Ren asked innocently, as the man visibly flinched, having forgotten about the small child.

"Something you don't ever repeat," the silver haired girl said, sending a death glare at the blonde.

"Reiner, those might be your last words," Jean said. So that was his name. She could tell that Jean had wanted to say something else, but at least was capable of holding his tongue.

The lift was hanging in the center of the room, exactly at face level with the seven titans within the room. The titan's slowly noticed the new food, moving in to surround the cadets. Their nervousness and fear was palpable, but they hold their ground.

"Fire!" the center of room erupted in bright flashes and the sound of gun shots, each and everyone hitting their mark. The seven sprung into action, landing slashing blows on their targets. Five titans dropped. ' _Damn,'_ Jane raged eternally, ' _they missed.'_ Ren already warped forward, hovering above the titan's nape for a second, before unleashing a concussive blast, bringing the titan down. Jane touched down in front of a whimpering Sasha, her Kraken wings already extending out of her shoulders. A low pitched rumble echoed in the throat, her wings crackling with electricity. Her wings shot forward like whips, slamming into the creature's neck, pulling each one back and repeating the process. The titan stumble back under the onslaught, not from the force, but from the electricity forcing it's way into the titan's nervous system. The creature fell, body twitching before laying still, body slowly evaporating into steam. Sasha blinked, tears in her eyes. Jane let out a sigh as Ren already decided that the decaying titan's where an all you could eat buffet, inhaling their flesh much like she did in her Wraith form.

"Thank you for saving Sasha," a black haired girl said. If memory served, it was the same girl that Lilith had carry her to the right flank.

"And thank you for carrying Lilith," she responded with a grin, "and I'm sorry about your date in advance." Caira's face turned an interesting shade of red, embarrassed or simply just shocked.

"You mean she wasn't joking!" Caira half asked half shouted. Jane almost laughed at her misfortune.

"Trust me, you'll know when Lilith is joking," Jane laughed, before scanning the room. The humans were ready to leave, shooting off at high speeds towards the wall. Mikasa however, launched herself to a nearby rooftop, launching herself airborne, Jane quickly followed. She grit her death, biting back the urge to swear. The titan was pinned down, body being devoured by several titans. Despite Ian and the Gorgon's efforts, many simply stayed attached, slowly devouring the Shifter. However the Gorgon was barely able to move. Exactly like the Titan Shifter, it was running on nothing for than fumes, leaving Ian allow to try and clear out the swarm. The noise of battle was clear on the other side of the build. Luke and Lilith likely both struggling to keep the titan's at bay. Suddenly a titan, from appearance an abnormal entered the Shifter's field of vision. It suddenly began to move, titan's falling off it's body, even losing both of it's arms as it closed in, biting down on the abnormal neck. It's roar's, though muted, echoed, throughout the area. Ian swung around in an attempt to cover the now harmless beast, but it didn't need his help. It used the limp titan in it's jaws as a club, finishing off the titan's around it with ease, before letting out a massive roar.

"Hey," Jean said, clearly in shock, "what was that about helping it?" The titan fell to the ground with a crash as Luke, with his sister in tow, joined the group on the roof. Steam came off it's body, in waves as Ian brought up a human. No, the smell was different. So this is what the Gorgon's human gise was. Caira gasped.

"Alexander?" she whispered in shock, before turning to Ian, "where did you find him?" Ian was clearly biting down the urge to panic, due to him holding a Gorgon in his hands.

"He was the giant titan killing spider," his fear was quite clear, "He's a Gorgon. Doesn't even know it." Caira raised an eyebrow.

"Relax, he's going to be fine," Lilith said, "He simply used up all his energy. He'll be conscious within the hour, I assure you."

"I'll care him Ian, you smell like you're about to give yourself a heart attack," Luke offered, with Ian quickly passing Alexander to him. Suddenly, Mikasa gasped, turning everyone's attention toward the body of the Titan Shifter. Through the steam she could see only one thing.

Eren Jaeger.

 **Never again will I write a seven-thousand word chapter. NEVER!**


	5. Battle for Trost: Part Three

Mikasa sat sobbing, clutching Eren's body close, ignoring the crowd staring down at her from the roof of the citadel. Eventually, she gained enough sense to bring him up, getting him and herself out of harm's way. The remainder of the humans stared on in shock, while Luke grit his teeth.

"The implications," Jane whispered, in the Old Tongue, so that the human's around her wouldn't understand her. Luke nodded.

"I think that most of us know the implications of this," Luke's voice was low, almost feral in it's tone.

"That fucking ape bastard," Lilith snarled, "He really fucking did it. Doesn't he get that messing with nature is the reason humans are nearly dead in the first place, and now he fucking creates a shifter! Is he mad?" Ian shrugged, the dome over his head opening, before pulling back to reveal his head.

"Maybe," He said, head fully exposed for the first time today, "but it doesn't matter know. We need to pull back." One of the soldier's, Jean, turned around, looking over the carnage.

"Then Eren, did all this?" his voice was low and almost fearful. However, the name caused both Luke and Lilith's eyes to go wide.

"Eren, as in Eren Jaeger?" Lilith could not stop herself from asking, earning her several confused looks.

"Yeah, why?" Caira asked, mostly distracted by trying to find Alexander's wounds. However, the male only looked like he was sleeping, not like had been in a warzone, and certainly was not the titan sized spider thing that these strangers called a Gorgon. Luke pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Then I guess that makes those two, Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert," Luke got several confused, probably about how an outsider knew their names.

"They've met our mother," Lilith sighed, "You know, the thing that most of your reports would describe as a pillar of blue flame, running around killing any titan that got in her path," the admission was met with multiple mouth drops, in shock. It was either that or the fact that number of differences between the two made it a shock that they were siblings.

"I know that you would all love to stay and chat," Jane said, body growing tense, "but we need to leave. Now!" She had caught the scent of multiple incoming titans, her body already beginning to shift into her Kraken form. Luke nodded.

"All of us have to get over the wall now, or we will get pinned down again!" Luke shouted, "You Five," pointing to Caira, Mikasa, Armin, and the unconscious bodies of Alexander and Eren, "are coming with us. It's going to be safer for those two to be with us. The rest of you should be able to make it the wall without issue." Mikasa seemed to reluctantly agree, before her and Armin pick up Eren's unconscious form. Lilith quickly picked up Alexander, before pulling up Caira onto Jane's back, despite the protests.

Behind wall Rose, Jane touched down, not to far into the wall, panic talking and screaming already audible. Once everyone had gotten off her back, her body condensed, reverting into her human body.

"Ian and Jane," Luke said, voice serous, "Get Ren away now. I don't want her involved and I know that this is going to get worse before it get's better." The two nodded quickly, with Jane picking up Ren before retreating into the shadows. The noise of 3D Maneuvering Gear was heard, already responding to the titan sized creature that had flown over the wall.

"If you want to leave, it's too late now," he said nobody in particular, as the first Garrison Soldier's touched down in front of them, blades drawn.

The group had found themselves surrounded, with Armin keeping ahold of Eren while Caira kept an eye on Alexander. Luke, Lilith, and Mikasa, formed a semicircle around them. Mikasa had drawn her own sword's, being a soldier be damned, more than willing to fight for Eren's life. Lilith was emitting a light orange glow, encasing her fists in rock and stone, her low pitched snarling clearly addible. Luke himself had begun to admit a red glow, the gill like structures on his neck showing, and his fingernails hardening into claws.

"Brother," Lilith snarled, "I don't think any of them are going to listen to reason. They're too scared and the commander smells like he about to shit himself." The commander, to his credit, didn't wince under the harsh words, but Luke knew that she was right. His quacking was barely noticeable, but once Alexander and Eren returned to consciousness, their first seconds back would almost be like they were drunk. Luke really didn't want to fight them, but it was becoming clear that combat might be the most likely outcome.

"I request that bring our superior officer," Luke shouted. Normally, he would have outright demanded, and would add a menacing 'or else' but he had to remind himself that this was, first and foremost, a diplomatic mission.

"And why would I let monsters like you talk with any commanding officer?!" The commander shouted back. Lilith bit back a savage snarl.

"My fellows and I are not here on a mission of war, we are here on a diplomatic mission," Luke snapped, natural aggression showing, "We are not your enemy, we were sent to protect you. Even if we have to protect you from your own fear and stupidity." The last part came out as a spat. The soldier's clutched their weapons even tighter as Alexander let out a groan.

"My head," the boy almost complained, trying to pull himself up, only to be caught by Caira, "What happened?" He asked, looking around at the multiple soldier's around them. Lilith smirked slightly.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, little Gorgon," Alexander looked at her like she had lost her mind.

"My name is Alexander. What the hell is a," he paused, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Oh. I did all of that?" he asked himself, attempting to pull himself up again.

"He's trying to do something!" one of the soldiers shouted in panic, 3D Maneuvering Gear firing up, attempting to himself in attack his unarmed fellow soldier.

"What the!" Alexander shouted, full noticing the hostile soldiers surrounding them. However, before the flying soldier was halfway to his target, Lilith intercepted, her earthen fist's blocking the twin blades, shattering them to pieces. She grit her teeth in annoyance, knocking the soldier back to his group with a powerful push kick. One of the few soldiers without their blades caught the man as he staggered back from the blow.

"Like my brother said, we are here to protect you, even if we have to protect from your own stupidity," Lilith snarled in annoyance. Alexander was almost in shock.

"Caira, what the hell is going on?" He asked in a panic. Caira herself was just as panicked.

"I don't know," Caira's fear was clear. She didn't think that fellow soldiers would attack them like this.

"You have a strength. A mighty strength. One that could easily give pause to this world's so called conquers," Luke started, clearly having enough, "you are an Evolved. A Gorgon. And a soldier of these lands. And because of that. Because you are not human, they want you dead. Despite the fact that being an Evolved makes you one the best at killing titans." His attention turned to the commander, voice thick with primal rage.

"So explain to me, commander? Explain to me why you want to kill the two best chances of you actual being able to beat the titan's?" Luke's voice was clear, almost hostile in its intent, signalling him having enough of this man's bullshit. He couldn't even keep his own soldiers in line. His outburst had thankfully cover whatever Eren had said, if the look on Armin's face was any indication. Eren himself looked like he was pretty far out of it.

"Eren?" Armin practically shouted, slightly shaking the boy, "are you ok?" The troops shift, any bravado they had turned tail and ran as the Titan Shifter finally awakened. His glazed over eyes came to full alert has Eren finally noticed the armed soldiers surrounding him and the others.

"Cadet's Eren Jaeger! Mikasa Ackerman! Armin Arlert! Caira Baker! Alexander! Your current behavior is high treason!" Katts shouted, earning a scoff of annoyance from Lilith that didn't reach his ears, "What do you have to say in your defense?" Even Caira looked like she was in shock. Eren himself was also confused. He couldn't remember anything about what had happened, and why fellow soldiers were looking at them like they were monsters. Furthermore, who were the two others that had formed a semicircle around them with Mikasa? The one to his left, closer to him and Armin, was letting out a crimson glow out of his body, fingernails long and sharp, not belonging to Titan or human alike. He was a boy, as far as Eren could tell, slightly taller than he was, with short brown hair, on his head. The one on the left, covering Alexander and Caira, had almost silvery hair color, ending at around the shoulder, and was the same size as the other. However, unlike Luke, she was in a fighting stance, her fist's covered in what appeared to be solid rock. Eren blinked one. Rocks? He didn't have time to contemplate further as Katts shouted again.

"Damn monsters! We'll blow you to bits in an instant!" He bellowed, the panic and fear clear in his voice, "We will not give you the time to show your true faces!" Eren grew even more confused. What were they talking about? Alexander gritted his teeth in annoyance at the commander. They could barely move, and yet he wanted to kill them like they were some type of threat?

"What are you talking about?!" Eren shouted. He couldn't remember. Why were they looking at him like he was a monster?

"You emerged from the corpse of a Titan!" Katts screamed, "Mankind has allowed Titan's to infiltrate the walls!" Eren had frozen with shock, mind failing to process the information. He was a Titan? That was impossible.

"The only titan's that have infiltrated your precious walls are the Armored and the Colossal Titan's, not some boy that has spent his enter life here!" Lilith snapped in rage "He met our mother during the first breach in your wall's! He has lived his entire life here, and you think he is an enemy? You're dense and a damn coward! How would superiors act if they knew that you abandoned your post at the first earliest moment! We protected **your** soldier's on a suicide charge because **you** couldn't do **your** job!" The silver haired girl would have likely continued, before her brother interrupted her.

"Enough!" Luke shouted, "Calling him out on his own faults does nothing, Lilith, calm down." Katts had taken a visible step back, partially out of fear that fact that she truly knew happened, along with the fact the glare she sent he told him that if she really would kill him if she could get away with it. Even now some of his own soldiers were sending him dirty looks. He need to gain control, fast.

"We don't time to waste on you!" He shouted again, "The Armored Titan could break through Wall Rose at any moment!"

"And we don't have to waste on you either," Luke snarled, a slight smirk on his face, "After all, there is a place on my mantle with the Armored Titan's name already on it." Katts almost took a step back again. This, this, thing, wanted to fight the Armored Titan? Katts was being thrown off balance by the continuously worsening situation for him.

"I'll blow you peices with the artillery!" He bellowed, the threat being quite clear. Lilith took a step back, snarling.

"Alexander and Caira, get to Eren now!" She ordered, "I'll do what I can to cover you!"

"They are clearly being defiant," the silver haired girl on Katt's right stated, "and clearly they are in league with creature's from beyond the walls."

"It would be easy commander!" Someone shouted, "We use the artillery to blow them away why they are still human!"

"You so sure about that little man?" Lilith snarled, taking a boxing like position, "because between her and I, I'm pretty sure we could take you all on." Her elbow pointed toward Mikasa as her point, and the look on the other girl's face was the look of someone who would kill. A soldier on Katts's left whispered something into his ear. Armin was already trying to talk Mikasa down, as Luke tried to calm his sister.

"We are here for war, but not against them," Luke snarled, voice both low, and had been spoken in the Old Tongue so it couldn't be understood.

"No," Lilith snapped in German, "I will not let anymore people die that I have to power to prevent. Even if I have to rough them up so they will finally learn their place." Her eyes shot right at Katts as she spoke clearly toward all of the soldiers. However, none of them wanted to listen, and even if they did, they would be part of a minority. Suddenly Katts raised his hand, causing Lilith to look up, and Mikasa to gasp. The girl darted toward Eren and Armin, intent on taking them out of range. Caira gasped as the cannon fired.

"Get down!" Lilith bellowed, pulling her body over Caira and Alexander, mist shrouding her form, signalling her transformation into Behemoth. Luke grit his teeth, the red glow of his bio-armor fully encasing his body, locking him down. However he watched as Eren grabbed ahold of Armin, before pulling the blonde and Mikasa against him, before biting his thumb as a crimson bolt of lightning crashed down from the heavens.

For Ren, Jane and Ian, things hadn't been all that much easier. For the most part Ren and Jane could easily pass unnoticed, but Ian's suit of armor made it impossible otherwise. And there was no way Ian could be convinced to ditch the heavy armor. However they had finally settled in, far enough away that they doubt they would be found by anyone looking for runners, but close enough that they could be signaled just in case. Suddenly two sounds happened with seconds of eachother. First, the sound of one of the massive cannons on the wall's, the second, was both a flash of lightning and the resulting crash of thunder.

"I just want today to be over," Ian complained to himself, ducking out of cover as steam and mist rose from where the cannon strike was. Despite the panic, it was a miracle that nobody notice him.

"What was that?" Ren whispered, almost appearing to watch the rising smoke, despite her being blind.

"I wouldn't know," Jane said, before being cut off by something akin to a low rumble, followed by the sound of a bellowing Behemoth. The massive roar lasted for nearly a minute shaking many of the human's around them to their cores.

"Well if I had to take a guess now," Ian said calmly, "someone thought it was a good idea to Lilith mad."

The explosive aftermath of the cannonball had already begun to fade as Luke looked up at the partial titan. All that existed of it was it's head, a single arm, and the chest. Luke was beyond impressed. He didn't even remember his power, yet the fact he was capable of exercising enough control to create a partial form was incredible! Lilith also began to move, pulling herself up to her full height, eye's clearly visible through the smokescreen. However, she was clearly pissed off, lumbering off toward the soldier's, stopping right in front of Katts's face, much to his terror. Luke almost wanted to make his sister stop, but then again, she wasn't actually about to kill him.

"Uh," Caira nervously stuttered, "what is she about to do?" Luke just smirked as Katts got a view of Behemoth's mouth before Lilith began to roar in his face. Many of the nearby soldier's clamped their hands over their ears to cancel out the noise. Katts, however, stayed still, paralyzed with fear. Embers flew around his face from the Behemoth's maw, as it continued to roar in his face for nearly a minute. Once she was finished with verbally venting out her frustrations with the man, Lilith's Behemoth form began to fade, before her human form stomped back into the cloud of steam, cursing him with every single word she knew. Caira stared at her awestruck, with Alexander having to bite back laughing at the person that not long ago ordered him into battle.

"I pegged you as the type that doesn't like taking other people's shit," he snickered. Lilith rolled her eyes, before looking toward Eren, Mikasa, and Armin.

"They thinking up a plan?" she asked, clearly already want to call it a day.

"Armin's smart," Alexander said, face going blank, "I'm willing to bet he already as a way out of this. Hopefully peacefully." Caira looked a Luke funny, noticing something sticking out what looked like the side of his head. Lilith bite back a giggle.

"Brother you have something right here," she said, biting back laughter, wiping the side of her face. Luke mimicked the action, removing shrapnel from his bio-armor, allowing the red glow to mostly fade, it's protection no longer need. Any humor that had begun develop vanished as Armin ran out the smokescreen, letting his gear drop to the ground with a crash, getting the soldier's attention.

"You showed your real color's monster!" Katts shouted, desperate for some type of control, "I will signal the artillery! I'll signal it!" he threatened desperately, despite the clear fact the wall mounted did nothing.

"He isn't an enemy of mankind! None of them are!" Armin shouted "We're willing share the information we have gathered!" Luke quickly made a hand sign to his sister as their smokescreen began to fall away. Lilith ran past Eren and Mikasa, positioning herself between the group and the artillery, ready to use her Rock Wall to block the cannonball.

"Begging for you lives is worthless know! They revealed their true selves in front of all of us!" Katts bellowed, trying to obtain the upper hand, "If they aren't threat's then prove it! If you can't, they will be eliminated!"

"You said everybody saw him! Then they must have seen him fight titans too! And they've seen Titan's trying to eat him! The Titans see him as food, just like us!" Armin shouted back, mumbling breaking out again the soldiers. "And the other's have been fighting alongside us sense the gate was destroyed! All of them have been fighting at our side! We both have the same enemy!" Luke blinked. He heard Jane say the kid was smart, but he was already able to infer this much without being told anything. He had to be a genius. Furthermore, Katts was in a panic now as well.

"Prepare to attack!" He shouted frantically, "This is nothing more than a clever trap! We have never been able to understand their actions! If they can take on the body of humans and speak our language, it's just another way of fooling us!" Armin seemed to panic, now noticing that the man was far beyond reason. However, he still went one.

"As a soldier, I swore to devote myself to the rebirth of mankind! There is no greater glory than dying for that belief!" Armin bellowed, bringing himself into what had to be their version of a salute, with his right hand over his heart. "If we add their strength to our force, it might be possible to recapture the town! For the glory of humanity, I beg you! In my final moments before I die, let me explain their strategic importance!" However, despite this Katts began to raise his hand, with Mikasa reaching toward her sword, and Eren preparing to bite his thumb. Lilith herself prepared to bring up a Rock Wall, one eye on the cannon and the other on Katts. As he began to drop it, however, someone stopped him from behind, grabbing his arm.

"Cut it out already," the voice from behind him said, "You haven't changed at all. You still have the guts of scared fawn." He forced Katts hand down as Luke let out a sigh of relief. He was using a normal speaking tone, so they could only pick up snippets of what he was saying. The last part of it was clear to all though.

"I think it will be worthwhile to hear what they have to say," he said, as Armin dropped to his knees. Katts looked shocked, face quite pale.

"But what about them?" he practically shouted. Whoever this man was, not only was clear that he was of high rank, but also very calm.

"I meet someone who explained to me why they are here," he said calmly, getting a look of confusion from both Luke and Lilith. Any confusion they may have had was gone as a crying Ren teleported into Lilith's arms. A few soldiers stepped aside, revealing both Jane and Ian's silver and red armored suit. Lilith tried to calm the sobbing child in her arms, as many of Katts's soldier's mumbled to themselves, watching the thing that had only a few minutes earlier was screaming in the commander's face comfort the small child who couldn't older than eight.

Up on the wall thing's had gone mad. While Commander Pixis really couldn't do anything to them, he still requested their help. Well it was more like an order. An order that Luke made sure everyone else listened to. And Armin's plan was crazy. While he was desperate to save their lives back there, he wanted Eren to close the gate. Something that Eren agreed to do. It was crazy. It was insane. But, it fit perfectly with the conditions of victory. Close the breach, no more titan's come in. No more titan's come in, then mopping things up what remained would be easier. However Pixis turned to them however.

"You are from beyond the Wall's, yes?" He asked, despite the fact he knew the answer already.

"Yessir!" the four of them shouted at the same time, performing their own version of a salute as further proof of the fact.

"Is there anything else you know about Eren's abilities?" He asked, eyes piercing through them.

"Sadly not much Sir!" Ian responded, "all we really know is similar to what you know. Titan's will go after him unless something else crosses their path or is an easier target. Sense his power is new to him he might suffer amnesia what some if not all events that happened while he is transformed. He also might have some control issues, but if his partial transformation down below is any indication, he has likely moved past this." Ian rattled out the few of the things he knew about Titan Shifters. Pixis nodded, motioning for Luke and Eren to follow him. Once they were out of earshot, he began to talk.

"They say that before titan's took over the land, mankind was endlessly fight and killing each other over dividing loyalties and beliefs," he began, "Back then, someone supposedly said: If a powerful enemy threatened mankind, humanity would probably unite and stop fighting amongest themselves." Luke nodded. "What do you two think of this?"

"If my grandparents stories where any indication, that was exactly what it was like before the titans," he added, earning a nod from Pixis.

"Such fairy tales exist?" Eren asked "Sound's pretty optimistic." Luke wanted to agree. It almost seemed like they were still fighting themselves, but this time in a different way. A short conversation later as they ended in front of the gate. The two drew themselves into attention, both going straight as a poll. Pixis cleared his throat for a second.

"Attention!" He bellowed the the next second, Luke resisting the urge to clap his hands over his ears. However, he knew it wasn't meant for him or Eren, but the quivering masses below.

"I will now brief you about the operation for retaking Trost! The goal of this operation is to close off the shattered gate!" Pixis's voice was calm and commanding, easily gaining the attention of all those on the ground, "As for our means of blocking it, I shall now introduce him. Eren Jaeger of the Cadets! He's the product of the military's top secret titan transformation experiments!" Even if Luke didn't know what he did, he still would call bullshit, but it seemed to work.

"He can summon a titan's body and control it at will!" he continued, ignoring what had to be a shit storm going on below them, "He will transform into a Titan, pick up the giant boulder near the gate, carry it to the breach in the wall, and use it to plug up the hole! Your mission will be to protect him from other titan's while he carries the boulder! Addition support during this operation will be provided by Luke Reid and his group of soldiers, who were sent by a recently discovered population of human's beyond the Wall's! His force's will join you in defending Eren. Luke himself will remain here and engage the Armored Titan when it appears!" Luke stepped forward on cue, performing the salute he was trained to give.

Jane was once again floored by Armin's utter brilliance. Use most of the soldier's to lure the titan's into a kill zone for the cannon's, while sending in an elite team to cover Eren, which at least consisted of her, Lilith, Mikasa, and Alexander. She was unsure about sending Alexander into the fray, Gorgon are not.

"An advice you can give me?" he asked Lilith, as he put on a new set of 3D Maneuvering Gear.

"Honestly, besides killing and eating a Titan right off the bat, I got no real advice," Lilith said, stretching herself, "Just do whatever feels right. Your body knows what to do. You just need to listen to it." Alexander looked at her with a look of slight confusion on his face.

"Why eat a Titan?" He asked, voice clearly confused.

"Because, you're low on energy. You don't have time to rest up and we don't have time to raid a kitchen for food," Jane said, "You're going to need energy to keep your form up, a eating a titan is the fastest way to get some." Alexander let out a sigh of defeat in that regard.

Luke stared down. Despite the overwhelming chance of success, the smell of fear reached his nose almost immediately. People were leaving, running. He had no idea why though. But the fear each human below was powerful, primal, and a punch to the gut. It was something that he had never thought of. These human's ,unlike the one's like Ian, thought they were alone. Weak. That nothing had their back. They didn't feel glee, joy or happiness at the chance to stand against a superior foe. They were the prey, the animal. They didn't know what it was like to have an apex predator at their back. However, Commander Pixis appeared to have everything well in hand.

"Heed my command!" the man bellowed, "Anyone who desert's right now will go unpunished!" Luke even raises his eyebrow. Where was he going with this?

"Once you have given in to your fear of the titan's, you can never fight them again!" he continued, "Anyone who has surrendered to the terror of the titan's should leave! And anyone who wants that same terror to reach the hearts of their loved ones should leave as well!" He continued on with his speech, going over an event that led to the slaughter of a fifth of mankind within the Wall's, simply due to the fact they couldn't maintain the population. Luke almost shuttered. How could someone just make that type of call without even flinching. What he had seen of the military so far was a mess, and a government that simply would just throw it's citizens away without a second thought. This was insane.

The decoy group had already been deployed. Pixis thought it was a good idea send in Alexander, Lilith, and Jane in addition to his forces. Ren would be used to bring in backup if the need was dire, due to her teleportation ability. Ian and Luke however, were told to hold back and wait for the Armored Titan. Thankfully, the titan didn't disappoint, stomping into line of the gate, earning gasps from the soldiers that were acting as decoys. Like with Wall Maria, it took an a sprinting stance, preparing to charge and shatter the gate. Before it could however, the heavily armored titan found itself under siege as Ian's gun opened up on it's target. While the singular shots from the inaccurate artillery would cause it no trouble, the non stop barrage of shells annoyed the creature.

"Go!" Ian shouted, as Luke broke into a run, leaping off the battlements, mist encasing his body as his Goliath form crashed into the ground. It was time to give this son of a bitch hell.

 **This is going to be the last update before finals, sadly, so I hope you all enjoy. But first off, did you guy's really think I was going to wait until the female titan arc to show how one of my OCs stacks up against one of the bad guy's? I've waited for quite a while for an Armored Titan vs. Goliath showdown. Secondly thank you. To everyone reading this, thank you. Four review's for four chapters, more than four hundred views, three favorite's and seven people getting emails whenever I update. This is already turning into one of my most popular stories yet, and I want to thank all of you for reading and making this happen. Thank you again, and happy hunting.**


	6. Battle for Trost: Part Four

**Author's Note: I'm slapping a big fat spoiler warning for this chapter, due to the Armored Titan using an ability from Manga chapter 75, and mimicking something that the Female Titan does later in the Anime. You have been warned.**

Luke's Goliath form slammed into the ground with an earth shattering crash. The shock wave from the impact threw up a massive storm of dust and debris, as any house near the gate was flattened. The impact also caused powerful gusts of wind to unleash themselves throughout the area, battering anything close by.

The Armored Titan had finally managed to get close to the gate. Unlike last time, there were no soldier's on the ground to even attempt at stopping his advance, and it was very unlikely that humans had figured out what to do with Eren, and the four, no, five unknowns that called themselves 'The Evolved'. The human they had brought with them was the furthest thing from his mind as he approached, smirking from the comfort of the Titan Form's nape. None of the artillery near the gate were manned. ' _This will be to easy,'_ He thought, ' _Smash through the gate, abandon this form, and "join" the defenders. Our cover will remain intact, and the mission will be almost complete.'_ He lined himself up with the gate, and preparing to charge. However, as he about to charge forward and shatter the gate, he heard something. He looked up, just as shiny shell's began to impact into his body. The Armored Titan gritted his teeth in barely restrained fury. He had thought the human was using simply smaller artillery shells, not whatever he was actually using. The shell's hurt the Titan, not much, but enough. Unlike the rounded shells normally used by the human's, these were based on old world technology, making them pointed. The shells attempted to dig into Armored Titan's defenses before detonating, instead of just exploding on impact, and the Armored Titan could definitely feel the difference. Before he could recover from the annoying and slightly painful barrage, something slammed into the ground in front of the gate. Dust and debris was thrown everywhere, rapidly followed by powerful winds. However, nothing shook the Armored Titan more than the roar that came from the cloud of debris. The earth quaked alongside it, and the air was forced to carry it's echo. He had heard it more than a few times throughout the day, but this time he was truly shaken. For this time, he wasn't fighting alongside it. No. He was the target of its rage. But he was a warrior. He would fight this creature, and even if he couldn't win the first time, he would still find a way to complete his mission. He charged forward, intent on doing his duty.

Luke let out tremendous bellow mere seconds after impact. The earth splitting roar broke the street around him, letting out another, smaller shockwave of force. The Armored Titan seemed to pause, almost if weighing if the fight was one worth fighting, or even if it could possible win. The debris field surrounding Luke had finally begun to settle, the Armored Titan taking it's original stance, as Luke hunched down, preparing to charge. Thier eyes lock, then they charge, the Armored Titan's feet ripping apart the street with each step, as Luke's four limbed charge left large gouges in the ground. Luke's charge stopped meters before the two collided, but his momentum remained as he slashed at the Armored Titan, the first blow connecting to it's face, leaving long scratch marks along it's armored head. The second missed as the Armored Titan stepped back, causing the blow to rip off the roof of a nearby house, sending it flying. The Armored Titan clenched it's right hand into a fist, and swung it at the side of Luke's head, while Luke swung his right hand in downward arc at the Armored Titan's head. Both blows connected at the same time, Luke's blow merely scratching the armored head of his foe. However, the Armored Titan's blow landed squarely on the side of the Goliath's head, unleashing shockwave that leveled several house, and breaking the stones in the road. Luke, however, was barely moved by the earth quaking blow, bringing his left hand down in the fist, smashing into the Armored Titan's head. A crater appeared in the street blow from the force of the blow, the Titan doubling over from the force. Luke then brought both his fist's together, before slamming them in Armored Titan's chest, his Goliath strength knocking his opponent into the air.

The Titan Shifter was shocked. Him smashing his fist into the side of the Goliath's face had done nothing! He was strong enough to send almost any Titan Shifter sailing through the air. So was his blow able to move it barely a few meters? The Armored Titan knocked out of it's thoughts as a massive fist slammed into his skull, making the shifter double over. The second blow came from both fists at the same time, hitting with enough force easily knock him airborne. His massive form was knocked easily more twenty meters up, before gravity regained control, sending him plummeting back the ground with a crash. The Armored Titan pulled itself out of the crater he found himself in as the Goliath slowly advanced. The human inside it's nape snarled. Steam began to roll lazily off the Titan's unwounded hands and feet, skin hardening even further, forming something akin to claws at the end of it's fingers.

Ian's eyes narrowed as he watched the clash below him. Like what Mary had reported, the wall breaking Titan Shifters where a Colosoul Class Titan, and a Fully Armored Class Titan. But an Armored Class Titan shouldn't have the force to break through the Walls in one single strike. Even aiming at the gate, it should be able to do that much damage. Ian stared down as steam began to lazily roll off the hands and feet, eyes widening in shock.

"That's not good," Ian said, eyes narrowing. Commander Pixis turn to face him.

"What do you mean?" He asked, eyes turning away from the battle that enthralled his troops.

"Armor isn't the Armored Titan's only trick it appears," Ian's face was grim.

"And might what that be?" the Commander asked.

"It has the hardening ability. This may be harder than Luke originally thought," Ian stated.

Luke rapidly closed the distance as the Armored Titan returned to it's feet. His claws slashed at his opponent, only leaving minor scratches in it's armor. However the Armored Titan returned the blows with even greater force, it's blows landing on the creature's head. The force shattered the street below, forcing the Goliath back with the extra armor adding force to the blows. However Luke didn't like being forced back, letting about a roar of rage, grabbing ahold of the Armored Titan, before slamming it into a nearby building. The attack didn't truly daze the Titan, but it had to pull itself out of the mostly ruined house that wouldn't support it's weight. It quickly got to it's feet, charging at the Goliath as it lifted a rock above his head. Luke brought the rock over his head, before smashing it into the Armored Titan's skull. The Titan stumbled, before Luke threw the rock into it's chest, knocking it back even further. The two stared each other down, before the both charged, clashing together, hands and muscles straining against each other, trying to push the other back. The weight of the Goliath prevented Luke from being pushed back, while the Armored Titan's crystalline toes gripping into the street, keeping the Titan in place. Both pushed and strained against the other, trying to overcome their opponent through nothing more than sheer force. One would have to give first, and Luke had a trick up his sleeve. The Goliath reared back, almost like it was about to roar again, but instead unleashed a torrent of blue flame onto the Armored Titan.

The Armored Titan grit its teeth as him and the Goliath slammed together, fists locking together in a battle of supremacy. Both the Goliath and the Titan Shifter were equally matched. He noticed that unlike Titan Shifters, that the thing in front of him actually had what had to be realistic weight for a creature of its size, making it a massive problem. The Armored Titan had to bury its feet into the ground, latching on with crystal claws at the end of each toe, stopping his movement all together. The two pushed and strained, unable to overcome the other. Suddenly the Goliath reared back, almost like it was about to bellow again. However, something felt different. The Armored Titan began to rapidly to harden its body, the crystalline armor forming around the nape and joints as a wave of blue flame engulfed his body. The Titan roared in pain, parts of his body being consumed in the inferno, at the same time his regeneration tried to heal that constant damage, only making the blaze burn hotter, as it had more fuel to grow from. The pain nearly made the Titan Shifter pass out on the spot. His armor was becoming heated, his protection now becoming a weapon against him. He was knocked back as blaze out of Goliath's mouth finally ended. The Armored Titan's body was barely holding together. All that was left was the armor, the boiling skin underneath, the skeleton, and his legs had enough muscle left for him to run. And he was going to have to run. The one attack had turned an even fight into one that was unwinnable for the Armored Titan. But the Goliath wasn't going to let him run. He would try to finish it now. Unless he distracted it, there was no way for him to escape. The Titan's near the wall would work perfectly. As the Goliath stomped forward, the Armored Titan let out an ear piercing yell, shattering any glass that remained intact.

Luke paused as the Armored Titan let out an ear shattering yell. What was it? A scream of defiance? A scream for mercy? Luke took another step forward, before a rumbling reached his ears. He turned his head to sound in annoyance. ' _What now?'_ he thought, before his form gave a look of shock. Of course. The yell was to make the Titan's notice it. To hunt it. To hunger for it's flesh. The Armored Titan broke into a run, heading toward the insurgent group. It was clever. Luke could either chase down the Armored Titan and finish it, or he could stop the oncoming horde of Titan's from finding Eren's scent. The mission was to protect Eren until he could plug the breach, the Armored Titan was merely a side objective. While Luke didn't like the choice he was presented with, he knew what mission was. If the Horde got to Eren, it was game over. He could kill the Armored Titan another day. Luke roared, as the Armored Titan run out of sight. It was time to use the trick he would save for their next clash. Luke charged forward towards the Titan horde, body encasing itself in bright orange flames.

Jane and Lilith kept to the wall, running alongside the dozen or so soldiers that were part of the elite squad. They ignored most of the chatter, due to them knowing what their strategy already was. However the relative peace was interrupted by the girl with silver hair from before.

"You two have any idea what the recruit Alexander or yourselves are going to do during this?" she asked, her voice having an edge of mistrust.

"Look, Alexander is going to do whatever a Gorgon does," Lilith said, almost annoyed, "For us, it's simple. I'll cover people from the ground while Jane rains death from above." The conversation would've continued, but they were interrupted by a shout.

"Here! Let's Go!" The order went out, the humans and Alexander leaping off the wall as mist encased Jane, taking the form of Kraken. Lilith lept onto her back, settling on the spines as Jane pushed off, following the humans from far above. The human's speed through the air, using their gear to perform twists, twirls, and flips as they approached the boulder. Mist began to enshroud Alexanders body as Eren bit down on his thumb, calling forth a massive bolt of lightning as the three meter Gorgon slammed into a tower, webbing spreading out near its feet, allowing it to stick to the surface. Alexander seemed to blank for a second, before shaking his head to clear his thoughts. Eren however, wasn't so lucky. Eren's mind was trapped within itself, likely to it being his first full and willing transformation. The massive body turned around, facing his sister, before attempting the through a punch at her. The punch was stopped, however, by a mass of acidic webbing that covered the Rogue Titan's arm, leading back to Alexander, who was using his own strength to keep Eren's Titan form in check. However, the Titan still had some degree of intelligence, grabbing the webbing before pulling, ripping the Gorgon from it's post, before swinging it in an arc, sending it crashing into a building a few meters away. The Gorgon let out a roar of pain as it's body was slammed into the ground at high speeds, knocking the air out of it's lungs. However, the webbing gave Mikasa enough time to dodge the second attack.

Lilith snarled from her position on Jane's back. She was going to save herself to kill a large group of Titans from above, but this was far more important. Eren's rampage was something she didn't think of. But it was a problem now. She lept off Jane's spine, body encasing itself in mist. Her body hit the ground mere moments after Alexander was sent crashing into a building, his body leveling the structure. Her Behemoth form, however, did even more damage, knocking over several nearby buildings and creating a crater as her thirty ton bulk smashed into the ground. Eren's Titan form still had enough mental power to notice the much larger threat, but not enough to know that fighting a Behemoth was a fight he couldn't win. He threw a punch at Lilith's armored head, only to have most of it's arm to be torn apart on impact. Lilith's body snorted, before gearing up a punch of her own. The fist connected with the Rogue Titan's stomach, nearly ripping a hole in it's gut, sending the Titan Shifter's body back, slamming into the rock it was meant to move. The blow seemed to do something, as the body no longer moved, but still regenerated from it's wounds. However, the racket had begun to draw out the Titan's that hadn't noticed the humans arrival. The largest, a twelve meter Titan, was torn in half by a bolt of lightning. Alexander, finally pulling himself to his feet, covered a five meter Titan in webbing, slowing the creature down as the acid gradually devoured it's flesh. He unleashed another attack, spitting out a spray of acid from his mouth, covering the creature. He pounced at the now distracted and overwhelmed target, tearing out it's nape in a single strike. The ten meter however, had gotten close to Eren. Lilith wasn't going to let that happen. She slammed both her fists into the ground, unleashing a line of earth and fire, destroying the Titan's feet and sending it airborne as it fell into the attack. Her tongue then shoot forward, sticking to the airborne Titan like a frog's tongue to a fly, before reeling the creature in. The Titan was forced into the ground, barely able to move as the Behemoth reared up and flattened it's nape.

The human's on top of the wall and those distracting the Titan's watched in awe and fear at the fight before them. The massive Goliath stood alone against the Armored Titan, and was holding it's own. Whether it was a testament to the Goliath's power or the Armored Titan's, nobody could tell. The Goliath, on one hand, had slaughtered multiple Titan's easily, and the Armored Titan was barely scratched by it's blows. However, The Armored Titan was one of the Titan's that shattered the Walls, and the Goliath was able to shrug off its blows with ease. The buildings throughout the area had been turned into nothing more than rubble by the combatants sheer force. However, the two remained almost evenly matched, both unable to truly break the other's defenses. That was until the Goliath unleashed its most powerful weapon. The ability to breath fire. The Armored Titan was nearly incinerated, it's body heavily battered and burned from the blaze. A cheer went up from the soldiers on the wall. The Armored Titan was about to meet it's end. However, the Titan suddenly emitted a powerful scream. Then a rumbling was heard as the Armored Titan began to run off. However, that was no longer a concern. All the Titan's that they had lured into a corner where now running after it.

"Do not engage!" Pixis shouted. Luke's head turned between the retreating Armored Titan and the incoming Titan's, trying decide whether it was worth to pursue. However, the Goliath turned to face in the incoming swarm, flames beginning to twist and turn around him. The blaze encased his body as he leapt forward into the mass of Titans. Ian gritted his teeth. His scans showed that the flames around the Goliath close to four-hundred degrees fahrenheit. The human's wouldn't be how much help.

"I'm going in," Ian said, turning to Pixis, as the man nodded. Another small group had been sent out to help the away team, despite the flare saying a mission failure. Ren had been sent as well as additional muscle, and they would likely need it. The suit resealed itself, as Ian leapt off the wall, firing off his thrusters as he fell. His cannon roared to fly as he skirted around the horde of Titan's, shells piercing and detonating in their napes.

Alexander slammed into the side of a nearby tower as Gorgon's form enveloped his body. His body paused as webbing spun out underneath his feet, keeping his new form's bulk attached to the structure. He felt something pang within himself. Something deep. Something dark. Something primal. He felt pangs of hunger throughout his body. The massive insectoid shook its head and blinked. His vision was weird. Almost like he had a different number of eyes on each side of his head. The creature's eight eyes blinked slowly, trying to acclimate itself to it's new vision. It's eyes finally cleared to a sight that should have been impossible. Eren's massive Titan form as about to attack Mikasa. Alexander struggled to think of anything that might stop the attack, until he remembered that Lilith had told him to act naturally. So he did. The feeling was strange as he shoot webbing around Eren's arm, using his newfound strength to keep the Titan in check. The stalemate didn't last long, however. The Rogue Titan grabbed hold of the webs, before yanking the Gorgon off it's perch, sending arcing through the air and crashing into a nearby house. Alexander let out a roar of pain from the force, his thin and underdeveloped armor shattering under the force of the blow. He shook off the pain as a five Meter Titan approached nearby. The Gorgon acted on instinct, again unleashing acidic webbing at it's foe, pinning it in place. Next, Alexander felt a strange substance beginning to build in his throat. He opened his mouth, letting out a stream of pure acid, covering his target, causing it to roar in pain as he pounced at the Titan's unprotected nap, teeth crushing down as his mouth filled with Titan blood and flesh.

Even after Ren had joined the fight, the situation was utter hell. Eren still hadn't gotten up, forcing the Evolved to do whatever they could to try and hold the enemy back. Jane's Banshee Mines and Lightning Bolts struck at any enemy within her massive range, delivering their destructive payloads. Alexander aided her further, slowing down Titan's with his acidic webs, and forcing Titan's to walk through highly corrosive acid to get to their human prey. Lilith stayed with as many humans as she could, her Rock Wall giving the soldier's under her protection additional mobility and a safe haven, all the while using her tongue to bring Titan's to her or get a soldier out of a bad situation. Alongside this her offensive attacks against any Titan was either her long range Lava Bomb, or the extremely powerful Fissure, which knocked even the massive Titan's airborne. Ren used her speed, using Warp Blast to pick off lone target's, her Decoy to provide her with cover when she gathered up the wounded, using her Abduction to save soldiers at nothing shorter than the last second, and when a group of Titan's backed a human into a corner, she would unleash her powerful Supernova, tearing the enemy to pieces. The human's, despite the fact they didn't want to admit it, we're beginning to become used to simply luring a Titan to one of their allies, and have them do the rest. It was something they shouldn't get used to, but the humans wanted to stay alive just as much as they wanted to do their job, and the Evolved made it easier to do both. But, once the earth began to quake, there was a pause on the battlefield. Eren had finally begun to move, carrying a massive boulder above his head. The humans had begun to rally at the sight of their impending , the fight had become harder than ever, the Titan's trying to converge on Eren. Even more starting for the Evolved was how much strain his body was under. His regeneration was only thing keeping him standing, as the weight of the boulder inflicted damage onto Eren's muscles. His body was constantly pouring out steam as he carried the boulder closer and closer to the gate. Jane hovered above the boulder, rigging it with mines incase a normal Titan slipped through their defenses. Lilith attacked any Titan far or near, crushing any who dared get close to the Titan Shifter, while incinerating distant threats. The other's did whatever they could to either get a Titan's attention or outright kill one, but their numbers were rapidly decreasing. However, the defense proved fruitful, with Eren successfully slamming the boulder into the gate, sealing the breach. The remainder of the human force and the Evolved formed a ring around Eren as Armin began pulling him out of his Titan form. Jane herself had landed on the ground, carrying several wounded on her back, and ready to carry Eren as well. Lilith's form began to dissipate, she herself running on fumes.

"Everybody up and out!" She shouted, and the human soldiers obeyed, using their 3D Maneuvering Gear to quickly scale the wall. Alexander did the same, returning to his human form, before shooting straight up the wall. He turned around the moment he heard a roar of pain and a loud crash. Two Titan's had pushed an exhausted Ren out of the way, sending the Wraith's body into a damaged wooden tower. The two were closing in on Lilith, Mikasa, Armin, a distracted Jane who was already partially airborne, and an unconscious Eren. However, before he could turn around, both Titan's fell in a flash, bodies falling to the ground almost seemingly without reason. Until one man landed on one of the bodies, green cloak with two wings on the back. One white, and the other Black. The Wings of Freedom. The Symbol of the Survey Corps. Ren had thankfully returned to her human form and warped back into Lilith's arms, staring at the man almost like she reconsidered him. Jane had returned, picking up Eren and the others, before heading back the wall, where she passed out from exhaustion.

For the first time, mankind had won against the Titans. With the appearance of a Titan Shifter in their ranks, and the arrival of the monstrous Evolved, Trost, and by extension, Wall Rose, where saved. However, for than a hundred soldiers were slain or had gone missing during the battle. Many of the Titan's that remained near the wall where mopped up by artillery and the might of the Goliath itself. However, the damage to Trost, and the lives lost, had prevented the victory from being a clean victory. But for once, mankind had a chance at victory against the mighty Titans.

 **And that is the end of the Battle for Trost arc. Quite glad that it's over, actually. I don't have to check out online videos to make sure I get stuff right for this next one. And no, I'm not skipping straight to the courtroom at all. We have the choosing of Division, a date to see, watching Ian perform his first diplomatic measure and a few other things. Hope you enjoyed, and see you next time.**


	7. Diplomacy

**Warming, there are hints of a same sex couple in this chapter. If this offends you, you have been warned.**

A commander let out a sigh from the hastily erected tent in the middle of what was only an hour ago a massive battle. The war band had managed to find the location of Beast Titan, who was on the move with a large number of Titan's. The ambush was planned, and the operation was mostly successful, wiping out most of the group while only losing a small number of their own. However, they failed to take out their prime objective, as the Beast Titan escaped during the battle, appearing to head in same direction that the walls laided. While the group that was sent had certainly reached the walls at this point, the Beast Titan would be far more than they could handle, especially with an Armored-Class Titan Shifter and a Giant-Class Titan Shifter already there. He would sent Mary herself, but her strength was needed for the final assault, and the same would be said for many of their strongest. But this was something that needed to be done. He had gathered their only three Titan-Shifter's for the mission. The first was a girl, the youngest out of the three. However, her age wasn't an issue, and the Sub-Armored-Class Titan Shifter certainly had earned her stripes. Her combat style was strange, a mix of many different things, earning her the nickname of the Brawling Titan. The second, to her left, was a man in his mid to late twenties. While he wasn't familiar personally with the man, he was aware of his reputation, and it was clearly earned. The Berserker-Class Titan Shifter, known by many as the Hellscream Titan, was a powerful fighter. The third and final member of the newly assembled group was the only Titan Shifter to ever join the Hunters of Overland. The man was in his forties, despite the fact he didn't look the part. The Beastial-Class Titan Shifter was one of the largest of his class, and was simply referred to as the Primal Titan. The three stood straight, waiting for the commander to start talking.

"I have gathered you all here for a special assignment," he began, "As you already know, this battle was to engage and kill the Beast Titan. However, he managed to escape, and is now believed to be heading towards the area known as the walls. An away team was sent before hand to aid the humans that call these lands their home, who were under attack from an Armored-Class and a Giant-Class. It was our hope that these events were not connected, but that no longer appears to be the case. We are sending you as reinforcements, and will contact the away team about your arrival." The three nodded.

"You leave immediately," he stated, "the walls remain due north of our present location."

"Yes'sir!" the three shouted, saluting the commander.

"Dismissed!" The three went straight as a nail, before exiting the tent. The area was noisy with the sound of work. It had been decided that the area would make a good camp after the battle. However, progress was delayed by the few remaining skeletons that the Evolved couldn't finish devouring. The bones were fading fast now, as the remains of Titan's never stayed, even if they were Titan Shifters.

"Great," the one called the Hellscream Titan huffed, "I'm stuck on a rescue mission with the brat." The girl shoot him a dirty look, but gave no response otherwise. However, he got a swift elbow from the man on his right.

"Stop antagonising the fresh meat," he said gruffly, before biting down on his wrist. A massive bolt of lightning slammed into the ground, steam unleashing from his body. The steam blew away to reveal his massive form. Standing at twenty meters in height, the Titan Shifter was almost completely covered in short white hair, the only parts of it's body exposed where it's powerful legs, and massive fists. The Titan body had no visible mouth, but had glowing green eyes and strange, animal like ears. It lowered its hand to the ground to pick up it's fellows, ultimately finding them a resting place on his shoulder. The Titan Shifter thundered off, heading straight north towards the walls.

Commander Dot Pixis let out a sigh as he walked alongside a small group of soldiers near the gate that connected Trost to interior of Wall Rose. He had received a letter just a few hours ago from Mitras, sent by the leader of the Military Police, Nile Dok. Like with Eren, the Evolved and their human ally where to be brought to capital to stand trial. Pixis did see where the man was coming from. The Evolved alone were clearly powerful, and one, Luke, had managed to stand his ground against the Armored Titan. Even if the others were weaker, even he knew that he wouldn't be able to take them by force, and he felt that a few of the group were nearing the ends of their temper. He signalled his soldiers to stand guard at the door of a two story building. After the civilians heard about their new allies, more than a few offered the group a place to stay, surprisingly. Pixis knocked at the door, loud enough to hopefully gain the attention of whoever was inside.

"Come in!" a voice shouted from within. Pixis opened the door revealing the human of the group, Ian, slouched over at the table, with a strange device sitting in front of him. The boy looked up and grinned slightly, despite the look of tiredness on his face.

"Commander Pixis," he said, "to whom do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Pixis's face didn't change, even as Ian gestured to pull up a set. They stayed quiet for a second or so, before Ian piped up again.

"I'm guessing you're on orders to arrest us?" Ian said. Pixis blinked in surprise. He already knew? How was it possible?

"It's something I would do if I were in your shoes," Ian suddenly yawned, interrupting himself. "And it's something we've already discussed. Luke said 'no, we were not going to be captives'". Pixis frowned even more.

"If you don't comply, I will have to arrest you all by force," Pixis bluffed. Ian was clearly playing some type of angle with him. Ian smirked slightly.

"If you thought you could take us by force, you would have already done so," Ian stated, clearly seeing through his bluff. The boy's eyes were like fire as he looked at Pixis. "But, we also need your government to trust us. So I suggest a compromise." Pixis raised an eyebrow.

"So what exactly are you compromising over?" He asked. This kid was clearly smart. He was going to offer something that the Military Police or the kind couldn't refuse.

"For starters, Alexander will go with you for the trail," Pixis blinked. Where they really just handing him over? Ian sensed the man's confusion. "He is one of your soldier's. We have no claim over him in the first place, and he agreed anyway." Pixis nodded.

"The rest of us will come to capital under guard, and can be observed as per the Military Police's wishes, but Luke will not tolerate keeping us in cages. No jail cells or anything like that." Pixis gave off another nod. So far, things were sounding very good. The Evolved would come willingly, and so far, he hadn't named his price yet.

"After the trail we will decide which of your military branches we will work alongside, even though at this point I think it's a unanimous vote for the Scouting Legion," Ian said. Pixis raising an eyebrow.

"And where will you be during the trial itself?" Pixis asked. Something sounded strange and off about what Ian had just said. It was this that caused Ian's eyebrow to raise.

"We are a foreign military power. Why would we need to stand trial?" Ian's confusion was clear in his voice.

"So you will come to capital, but you will not stand trial?" Pixis sounded exasperated, "that hardly sounds like a compromise."

"I'm not done," Ian said, "and you should try to keep your voice down please. Three people are still sleeping upstairs."

"So what is the rest of this 'compromise'?" Pixis said, clearly annoyed.

"I'll share old world military information. How to make your cannons better, stronger, and more accurate. How to make shell's that can pierce Titan flesh with ease." Ian grinned, making no attempt to hide his smirk. "And, I share with the higher ups how we found this place, and a few secrets we have found about the Titan's." Pixis blinked once. Blinked twice. He was expecting a massive incentive, but this was over the top. If any of what Ian was saying was true, not only would they have better defenses, due to the upgraded cannons, but they would have more information about Titan's, something that many members of the Scouting Legion would jump off a cliff to obtain.

"Do you think you can get your higher ups to agree to that?" Ian asked with a grin.

"I think I can," Pixis grinned. Suddenly, the device on the table hummed to life, projecting a picture of a man.

"Sir!" Ian nearly shouted, shooting out of his seat like a bullet, saluting as he looked at the strange procetion.

"I'm calling to inform you of a recent development. As of four hours ago, we engaged the Ape Titan in an attempt to remove him from the equation. He escaped alive, as is believed to be heading towards the walls." Pixis was confused, but the look of fear that crossed Ian's face as the name Ape Titan was mentioned spoke sentences.

"We have sent three more soldiers as reinforcements. I have sent you their files, go over them as soon as you can and inform the other's. If the two other Titan Shifters are in league with the Ape Titan, then you will have serious trouble."

"Yes Sir!" Ian said again, and the projection switched off. Ian slumped down, with the look of 'fuck my life' written all over his face.

"What was that about?" Pixis asked, now clearly on edge.

"I guess we'll go over how we found this place now, then," Ian sighed.

Luke almost snarled as he lifted another half-eaten corpse into a horse drawn carriage. The district needed to cleaned before any of the civilians could be let back in, due to fear of disease. He had enough trouble convincing the guards to let him in to help clean up, and resisting the urge to intimidate them was even more It was personally something he hated. However, it was needed. Many of the survivors were the ones that had been assigned cleanup as well. They had likely seen some of these people die. Did they really need to be picking up their corpses? The answer for him, anyway, was no. Most of the survivors had enough trauma from the battle. Luke doubted that this would give them any sense of closure. Luke's nose crinkled as he accidentally inhaled through his nostrils. The smell of rotting corpses permeated through his nasal passages. However, that helped lead him to a massive sphere. He blinked. The sight before him was disgusting. Well, that was something new he learned today. The fact that Titan's could vomit. Or at least to some variation on the already gross hairball. The massive ball of slime had the faces of partially digested humans inside. The faces stared outward, eyes showing the fear and terror they had felt at the time of their demise. A few of the other humans around it just looked at it with shocked looks on their faces. Luke stepped forward, fingernails turning into razor sharp claws. He gripped the underside of the of the disgusting, slimy sphere, before lifting it over his shoulders, earning a few looks of shock if nothing else.

"I'll get this moving," he said softly, something that wasn't normally like, "it's not like we are going to be able to find out who they are like this."

Lilith lifted up a massive boulder out the side of a house, before crushing it with her fists. Much of the district was heavily damaged. While the 'damage' left behind behind by the soldier's gear was nothing more than small holes that didn't even go through brick, the Titan's that chased them did more damage than she thought was possible. It didn't help matters that several small fires had broken out during the fighting. The flames had already been extinguished by this point, and the dead had already been removed, allowing the civilians see their now ruined distract. A handful had already put on brave faces, and had already started to try rebuilding. Which resulted in her helping. While construction wasn't her thing, Lilith's strength allowed her to move heavy objects much easier than the humans she was helping. This allowed for a simple system, of her clearing away rubble and the humans beginning their repair work. The little of it they could, anyway. There was no excess timber, and very little of the rubble was recyclable. However, stone's where something she could work with. She reached down, closing her eyes and focused on the large pile of stones in front of her.

Pixis decided to stay for a while after Alexander was taken away, without struggle, might he add. Ian had passed out not long after the remainder of the house, which had forced a clearly pissed off Jane to carry him to bed. That had left him with nothing to do but watch their youngest member, Ren. The girl looked fairly human, and behaved much like his own children, barring the fact that her feet never touched the ground. Even with the reports, he had a hard time believing that she was able to transform into a monster like the rest of her peers. He also questioned the logic of bringing a child on such a mission. Jane returned to the table, clearly annoyed, before turning to him.

"Sorry about that," she grinned slightly. Pixis waved her off.

"It's fine," he said, "but it would be nice to know why he was up all night, and why you brought along a child?" Ren's head turned to sound of his voice. However, her eye's seemed to be unable to meet his. The black orbs seemed to be stare straight at his chin much rather than meet his eyes. Ren made a weird noise before whipping her head around, clearly pouting.

"Oh, Ian?" Jane questioned, turning Pixis's attention to the newfleging conversation, "I don't know how, but part of his adrenal gland is messed up. It produces adrenaline longer than it needs to, and it takes a while to get his out of his system. That's why his passed out."

"I see," Pixis said, despite the fact he really didn't. It was pretty clear that the people outside the walls had reclaimed many pieces of knowledge from the time before the Titan's, resulting in the useage to words and even base concepts that he couldn't even comprehend. He didn't to sit through nearly an hour of explanation about how something worked or should work. It was clear that Jane had bought it to, because she continued on.

"Ren wasn't sent on the mission. We found her outside the walls," Jane stated, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Found outside the walls?" Pixis reiterated, confused. Ren had not surprisingly, left the room, likely bored and wanting to find something to do.

"Yes," Jane said, "we thought she was a human with really dumb luck, so we picked her up and brought her with us. We hoped we could bring her back to her family, but that is in hindsight, clearly not the case."

"What do you mean?" Pixis asked, clearly confused.

"Her parents would be Ferals," Jane stated, pausing as she sensed Pixis's confusion. "Ok, so back when humans ruled the world, the Evolved were heavily prosecuted to the point where being one was a crime. Some ran away from civilization, losing themselves to their animalistic instincts. Those became today's Feral's. It's likely that her parent or parents died and she observed people that may leave the walls for some reason or another. She taught herself how to activate the genetic that allows Evolved to create a human body."

"So, your human body isn't your real form?" Pixis questioned cautiously. Jane passed for a second.

"Well, both of our forms are real, but our Evolved form is our natural state," she said, deep in thought, "the human body is created from the leftover mass when we disperse our natural state. That why when we return to it, mist seems to appear around our bodies. Our human state allows us to conserve energy and lets us interact with humans." Pixis bit back the urge to groan. He was definitely letting the Scouting Legion handle the crazy things these people talked about.

Lilith wiped the sweat that covered her brow. Her natural touch with earth and stone allowed her to convert most of the rubble into brick sized stones. It took a lot of time, with the sun being far lower in the sky than it was when she began. A large group of people had also gathered around her during the time, eyes wide with awe, and maybe a bit of fear. If that little was enough to get people on edge, it was time to leave. She dusted off her pants as she turned, meeting the stern face of a man. A man who was wearing a dress? No, on a guy, it was called a robe. He also had strange stone carvings on is robe, each one looking like The strange man simply stared at her, causing her to stare back for a few seconds. What was with him?

"You are abomination," he said, causing her to blink, before letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Do you actually have something to say that is worth listening to, or are you simply wasting everyone's time," Lilith snapped, shooting that man a death glare. Just who did he think he was? The man visibly flinched, clearly not used to someone telling him to back off. That or using an aggressive tone with him.

"Only humans can dwell within the Walls!" He suddenly shouted, "You are not human, and defile the will of our Lord!" Lilith blinked, before letting out a low pitched rumble in her throat, far beyond what humans could hear. She suddenly slammed her foot into the ground, breaking apart the stone that made up the street, creating a small shockwave.

"Blah, blah, blah. Shut your mouth and listen," Lilith snarled, the shockwave knocking the 'priest' out of his rant, and nearly on his ass, at the same time mending the damage she did to the road below her. "Unlike you, I helped fight to save this place. Unlike you, I try to help fix what the Titan's broke. And you want to make me the bad guy?" She clenched her fist in anger.

"First thing. You're. Not. Worth. It," Lilith practically spat, "I think we are done here." She practically stormed off after that, ignoring the priests attempts at getting her attention. Despite her clothing making her stick out, she was able to lose him in the crowd. Unfortunately, her luck didn't get much better, as she quite literally ran into a depressed Caira. The resulting tumble didn't hurt either one, but it was definitely embarrassing. For both of them. A slight blush appeared on Lilith's checks as she pulled Caira back onto her feet.

"Sorry about that," Lilith said, rubbing the back of her head.

Caira's day was one of the worst in her life. One of the first things she heard was the fact that the 104th trainees squad would be the ones to clean Trost of all the dead, and it went downhill from there. Eren and Alexander were both placed under military arrest as 'traitors', and rumors flew around that the Evolved would suffer the same fate. Cleaning up half eaten corpse for the first part of the day didn't help. Some of these people she had spent the past three years with, getting to know them, only to have them ripped away in a flash. She also saw Luke several times, also helping with the clean up, proving one rumor false for the time being. After a day to doing nothing but cleaning up her fellow soldiers remains, she went with some of the other survivors to watch the bodies of their dead comrades burn. Why she went, she didn't know. A sense of closure? It didn't matter. She felt empty inside, and seeing the pyre made it even worse. She left not long after Luke arrival. It was beyond her why he would be there. He didn't even know anybody here. Why would he do something like that? Why would he help clean up the dead? These thoughts kept her distracted until she ran into the one person she would never expect to run into. Lilith. The two crashed together, knocking each other to the ground. Lilith was the first to recover, scrambling to her feet. Once she was up, she offered Caira her hand. The slight blush on her face was clearly obvious, and the only thing more so was the heat she herself felt on her face. She accepted Lilith's hand as she pulled herself up.

"Sorry about that," the girl said, her hand rubbing the back of her head.

"It's ok. I should have watched where I was going," Caira said, staring down at her own feet in embarrassment.

"You shouldn't. You've been through a lot and have a lot on your mind," Lilith stated, causing Caira to blink.

"Am I really that transparent?" Caira asked, even more embarrassed than before. Why was she feeling like this?

"No. I think everyone that lived through that battle has a lot on their minds," Lilith looked at her softly, something she didn't associate with the girl. "And rightfully so. If you need to talk, just let me know."

"What if I want to talk now?" Caira practically begged the moment she had finished talking, causing her to blush once she realized how quickly she responded.

Lilith smiled softly.

"Sure."

 **I've added an authors note to the end of this chapter for several reasons. The first being the hate I have been getting sense I posted this chapter in the form of private messages about Caira and Lilith's attraction towards each other. In summary, I will not change these two characters. I made them, not you, and if you don't like it, then don't read. The second is the fact that one of these came from a follower of the story. Once again, my answer is the same as above. If you don't like it, don't read. I stated each characters sexuality in each one's bio's, and there shouldn't be an excuse for this.**

 **That is all.**


	8. Courtroom Drama

**A spoiler warning for this chapter as well. You have been warned.**

 **Once again there are hints of same sex attraction in this chapter. If you don't like, don't read. You have been warned.**

"I'm definitely thinking we should work with the Recon Corps," Lilith's muffled voice was barely heard through the stack of papers she had buried her head in.

"As much as I agree, the Military Police is considered the most prestigious," Jane stated softly, "They do only allow the top ten of each year into their ranks."

"There is a difference between rank and combat skill," The boy sitting between them yawned, "If we look at kills alone, even the Garrison has the Military Police beat, and that's saying something."

"And let's not forget the amount of corruption we have seen this far," Lilith said, slightly annoyed, "I mean, what have we seen already? They sell government property for personal profit, most of the higher ups are so drunk it's a miracle they can walk straight."

"So the Military Police are out," Jane let out a frustrated sigh, "What makes you think the Survey Corps is a better idea? They loss a third of their forces on average each time they step out of the walls!"

"You mean besides the fact they actually have the guts to outside?" Lilith's annoyance was already borderlining anger, "If you look back at five years ago, it was far worse,and not only that, you may want to take a look at this file." She reached for the file her face was buried in moments before, handing it to Jane for the head of a very tired Ian.

"Look, can I take a nap now?" Ian asked, another yawn on his voice. The two girls stared down at him, before snarling "No!"

"I've been invited as a formality, I'm probably just going to be asked a question or two about Alexander, that's all," Ian almost whined, extremely tired from staying up late trying to figure out how the 3D Maneuvering Gear worked.

"What about the treaty afterwards?" Jane asked, astonished that Ian had seemed to forget all about it.

"I have everything under control, relax," Ian said, turning his head sideways with a grin, before flopping down onto his pillow of papers. Jane shook her head, her head, before turning back the the file that Lilith had handed to her, taking a sip of water, almost spitting it out as she read the kill count listed on the file.

"What the fuck!?" Jane shouted, "This kill count is insane!" Lilith grinned, despite the looks they received from the outburst.

"Told you that the Recon Corps where good," Lilith smirked, as Ian rubbed his ears.

"Let me see that," he said sleeply, as Jane passed him the papers.

"So, one Levi Ackerman," Ian's eyes seemed to grow in size as his eyes went over the kill count. "Damn. And he's a guy to." Lilith grinned.

"So you already have your eyes on somebody?" she teased, expecting the boy to fall apart into a blushing mess.

"I know I like older men, but there's a point of diminishing returns. He's over thirty, and doubt it is appropriate for one to fall in love with one of their superiors," Ian yawned, passing the file back to Jane. "Besides, you're the one getting nice and cosy with someone from around here." Lilith blushed, in a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance.

"I feel that she is my anima," Lilith said with a slight blush, causing Ian to raise an eyebrow.

"Interesting," Ian yawned, before the boy received a jolt of static electricity.

"OW!" he hissed in annoyance.

"Focus!" Jane snapped. "You have a lot to do and a lot to prepare for. It's not our fault you stayed up to late."

Luke was a far away from the other's. The other side of the room to be exact, looking through a stack of much different files. While the others simply were trying to understand the other's reasoning for behind why they wanted to join the Recon Corps, he was the one trying to figure out which of the human's would join the group. The 104th squad had suffered heavy casualties in the battle for Trost, and he feared that many that might have joined the Survey Corps would not. Sense the Survey Corps usually got very few fresh troops from trainee squad, there would be even less this year from what they had witnessed first hand. So he was separating the files into groups. One's that he felt would join the Recon Corps regardless, ones that were up in the air, and ones wouldn't. So far the only people he felt certain of where two. Mikasa Ackerman, and Armin Arlert, two close friends to Eren Jeager, who even stated that he wanted to become a member of the Survey Corps. Mikasa, someone who was very willing to kill to keep Eren safe, was a shoe in. Armin, on the other hand, wasn't so much so. The kid is smart, there was no denying it, but he also wasn't in the top ten, so he likely wasn't the best combatant. But then again, who needs strength when you come up with a plan in a race against time to clear seven Titan's out of an armory with little room to maneuver. Their friendship with Eren was the greatest factor though. Even though he wasn't looking forward to answering the question of how exactly Lilith and him knew about Eren, but that was a bridge to cross when they came to it.

The group that might join the Recon Corps was larger, if not by much, consisting of Caira Baker, Jean Kirstein, Ymir (No last name, should look into it later if allowed), Krista Lenz, Reiner Braun, Bertolt Hoover, Connie Springer, Annie Leonhart, (a strange take on the name "Lionheart", from what he could tell), Sasha Blouse, and a handful of others, but he expected five percent, likely even less, of the survivors to join the Survey Corps. However, many of them where some of the best of their group, which would hopefully count toward something on the battlefield. But that's if they joined. If they didn't, well, the Recon Corps was going to be in need of a lot more help. The strategy the Recon Corps used was nothing short of brilliant, focusing on a massive formation that would simply sidestep any titan that came close, avoiding battles when it could. Against an enemy that was multiple times your height and had you outnumbered over fifty to one (a fact that wasn't known to the human forces yet), avoiding a fight is exactly what you wanted to do. Luke thought back over the past few days, when he paid a visit to the bonfire that was used to burn the bodies.

The smell of burning flesh hit Luke's nostrils hard, causing him to crinkle his nose. The smell was not one he was accustomed to. His flames usually left no smell behind, due to the near instant incineration and his body having a build in filter to the stuff. However, his human form did not have that adaption. Only a few soldier were in the area, most of them cadets from the battle, likely paying their respects. He hung back a little ways, not exactly hiding, and he didn't want to interrupt. He did, however, feel a minor pang in his body. His father died before he was born, something he considered a blessing, and a curse. On one hand, he had no memories of his father, so he didn't have much to mourn. However, that itself was the curse. He had nothing to mourn, not really. No memories, no emotions, no connections. Just a name, a face, and a tombstone. And this? This was the same damn thing. He didn't know any of those that died. He didn't know their faces, their hopes, their dreams, their goals. He didn't know why they were soldiers, who they were fighting for, what they were fighting for. He had didn't know a single one of them, and that itself was something worth mourning. Just a little. It was only a matter of time before he became noticed. Not like he was trying to hide, but he did want to stay out of the way of those who were truly suffering. Of course, a person at more or less a military funeral who wasn't in military uniform was going to stick out. The boy had some interesting hair, to say the least. The top was a light ash-brown, while the sides where much darker. And he wasn't exactly happy either.

"What are you doing here?!" The boy half questioned, half yelled. Luke stared straight ahead, clearly not amused or worried.

"The same reason you are, to mourn," Luke calmly said.

"You didn't know a single one of them," the male snapped, before Luke interrupted him.

"And that is why I'm mourning," he said, and boy blinked, "It's like with my father. He died before I was born, and I will never know him. That is what I mourn. What I'll never get to know." Luke turned around, preparing to leave.

"Where are you going?" the boy snapped, the hostility his voice once held had slightly faded.

"I'll mourn at a later time. It was rude of me to intrude while your scars are still fresh," Luke sighed, leaving the group behind.

Luke let out a huff, shaking himself out of his thoughts. Under normal circumstances he probably would have beaten the child, but he had just survived a very bloody battle. And considering what was happening here, doing such would be a terrible idea. He had seen many members of the Military Police and a handful of Garrison soldiers sending them dirty looks, with members of the Survey Corps usually staying away from them. Well except for one Hanje Zoe, who had taken an interest in Ren. Normally, he would be worried about the small girl, but she treated the chase like a game, and it kept her out of trouble, something he was thankful for. Now it was up to Ian. While Luke doubted he would have any influence over the judge, he knew enough about Titan's and Evolved that he could hopefully say something to get a few people to think about it. But that would require the judge to even ask for his testimony on the matter, and let alone listen to it. Losing Eren or Alexander would be a disaster. Both had great potential, and would ideally be important member's of Recon Corps, or the human forces in general. But if they were to be executed, it would be like shooting themselves in the foot. Something pointless and harmful. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

At least, the day of the trail had arrived. Ian had actually rested well that night, organizing papers that he felt would be necessary for the trail, alongside the projector and communications device. However, he was confined to a small area in the back of the room, with barely enough room for his paper's and the projector. The area was clearly built with great haste, and appeared to be easily removable. Only a handful of people where in the courtroom at the moment, but it was already beginning to fill rapidly. One side was Military Police, arguing for Eren and Alexander's execution. The other side of the room had less people, and appeared to be the Recon Corps. It didn't take long for the two to be brought in, however. Alexander on one hand, simply stared down at his feet as he walked. Eren, one the other hand, had his eyes wide, panic visible, almost coming off him in waves. Ian felt sorry for the two as their chains were pinned into the ground. He didn't have much time for pity as the Judge, otherwise known as Daruis Zackly, entered the courtroom.

"Now then, let us begin," He said in a flat tone, almost sounding bored.

"You are Eren Jeager and Alexander, correct?" he asked, looking at one of the papers on his desk "You're soldiers that vowed to devote your lives to the king. Is that correct?"

"Yes sir," they both nearly whispered at the same time, clearly in some form of shock.

"This is an exceptional case," He went on, giving no sign of hearing the two, "it is outside the bounds of common law, therefore we must convene a special court-martial. The final decision will be handed down be me. I will deliberate upon whether you live or die as well." Ian kept calm. So far, this was straight to the point. No complications. Present the evidence that he had called upon and hope that the judge was rational.

"Do you two have any objections?" He asked.

"No, sir," Alexander said, eyes not lifting from one spot on the floor.

"None, sir," Eren said at the exact same time, eyes almost wide with with panic and fear.

"I'm glad you're both being cooperative," Zackly said, eyes not lifting from his paper. He wasn't the only one. Both the Survey Corps and Ian knew that getting these two out would require as little resistance as possible. "Let me say this straightforwardly. Concealing both of your existences has proven impossible." He took a look at Ian. "The same goes for the 'species' that calls themselves the Evolved. Unless we publicize the existence of these new parties in some way, we may have to face another threat besides the Titan's." Ian heard multiple mumblings and noticed a few dirty glances coming from both civilians and Military Police alike. Where they referring to him and the others as the threat? A look from Zackly calmed things down quickly enough.

"This court is tasked with deciding which force will have custody over you, the Military Police or the Recon Corps. First let us hear the proposition from the Police," Zackly concluded, turning over the stand to the leader of the Military Police, Nile Dawk.

"I am Nile Dawk, Chief of the Military Police. Our proposition is as follows: We will examine Eren and Alexander's bodies thoroughly, then dispose of them as soon as possible." Ian almost froze. They wanted to dissect them? Out of all the stupid idea's imaginable, they wanted to put a Gorgon and a Titan Shifter under the knife? Nile shoot Eren and Alexander one of the dirtiest of looks before continuing. "It's a fact that their power played a role in repealing the last attack. However, their character induces disturbances that may even lead to rebellion. Therefore, they shall provide us with as much intelligence as possible, then they will become a martyr for mankind." Ian resisted the urge to sigh. This was one of the crazier things he had heard. He could provide plenty of intelligence, the odds of a rebellion were slim to none, and why have the two as a martyr when you can have them as cannons?

"That isn't necessary," A voice came Nile's right, "He's a vermin that breached and infiltrated the sacred Walls of God. They all are!" He pointed his finger at Eren, Alexander, then all the way across the room to Ian, who was trying his hardest to keep his facial expression from changing. Ian resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It appeared to be the same group that had attempted to harass Lilith back in Trost. He was really happy that Luke wasn't here, or he would have snapped already.

"They all should be killed here and now!" He bellowed. Ian almost wanted to just simply tell the man to shut up, but he really couldn't.

"Priest Nick, quiet, please." Zackly's voice came from the front of the room, before turning to Ian.

"Is there something you'd like to say," he asked looking at Ian head on.

"There would be, your honor, but it is not something appropriate for a courtroom and it has already been dealt with," Ian said, rimrod straight. Zackly smirked slightly.

"'Your honor', I like that," he said, "next, let us hear the proposition of the Recon Corps."

"Yes, sir," A voice came from Ian's left, as a blonde haired, blue eyed man with massive eyebrows began to talk, "I am Colonel Erwin Smith, head of the Thirteenth Battleon of the Recon Corps. Our proposition is as follows: We will accept Eren and Alexander as formal members of the Recon Corps, and with the help of the Evolved, reclaim Wall Maria. That is all." Ian wanted to blink. That was it? Not really too surprising, but still, he was hoping for a little bit more.

"Is that all?" Zackly asked, almost surprised.

"Yes. Using their combined abilities, we can retake Wall Maria. I believe the priorities are clearly apparent," Erwin calmly said.

"I see," Zackly said, "And from where do you intend to launch this operation? Pixis, I believe the gate in Trost is sealed for good." He turned to the older commander.

"Yeah. It'll probably never be opened again," the aging man said. Ian's mouth wanted to drop. Despite the fact that Pixis was in the military, he was beginning to think the old man just gives no shits about much anything.

"We would likely start from Calanes from the east," Erwin said, drawing attention back to himself, "We will approach Shiganshina on a new route." And that was about when shit started hitting the fan.

"Wait! Shouldn't we just seal the gates now?" someone shouted.

"You mean increase the time it takes for your military forces or goods to get from place to place? Because that is such a good idea," Ian said, in an attempt to try and shine reason into the situation. However, what he said wasn't heard over the shouting match that erupted. However, the match was cut short by the person standing next to Erwin speaking up.

"You sure talk a lot you pig," The man said, commanding respect and attention. The room quieted down and the man continued to speak. "Who says the Titans will wait until you can lock up the gates? When you say 'we', are you referring your friends you plan to get fat with? Can't you even see the people who are starving because we don't have enough land?"

"We're only suggesting that if we seal the gates, we'd be safer," The man was stuttering like mad, almost like he expected to get interrupted by the short man again. However, it was the priest this time, who clearly didn't get the memo of shut up.

"Enough of you insolence!" the man bellowed, "How dare you even suggest doing such a thing to the sacred Wall Rose, given to us by God!" The man proceeded to go into another tirade, causing Ian's face to want to go to it's 'what the fuck' setting. Zackly quickly got everything under control, tapping his hand.

"Silence," he ordered, "argue about your beliefs and opinions elsewhere. Jeager and Alexander, let me ask the two of you this: Can you keep fighting for the sake of mankind as a soldier, and use your respective powers for the same goal?

"Yes, I can," The two answered at the same time, beginning to sound creepy.

"Oh? But in the report from Trost is says: Eren attempted to swing his fist at Mikasa Ackerman right after becoming a Titan, only to be prevented by Alexander." Eren's head suddenly whipped towards Mikasa, shock written on his face.

"Alexander, I want to hear you on this before I ask Mikasa. Why did you attack Eren Jeager this time, but not during the fight at the supply depot?" He asked, almost glaring down on them.

"I don't know sir," Alexander said, looking up for the first time, "I don't really remember my first transformation. I think just, sensed that he wasn't going to attack what I wanted to protect, so I didn't attack him. During the operation, he at first felt wrong, like he wasn't himself." Inside Ian's brain, gears began to turn.

"Your honor, if I may, I think I might be able to explain what happened," Ian said, loud enough to hopefully get everyone's attention.

"Oh, very well then," Zackly said, eyebrow raised, "please continue." Ian quickly flipped through some files.

"Is Armin Arlert present?" Ian asked, scanning the room.

"Yes, I am," a small boy said, His blonde hair was long, with blue eyes and body frame that made Ian mistake him for a girl.

"You and Eren are the only survivors of your squad, yes?" Ian quickly flipped through some of his paper, hoping that he remembered it right.

"Yes we are. Why?" Armin was slightly confused about exactly what the stranger was trying to prove.

"Was Eren by chance eaten by a Titan, and by chance suffered the removal of any limbs?" Ian asked.

"Yes, he was," Armin was still lost. What was the man planning?

"Thank you for your help Armin," he said with a smile, "I think we all know by this point that both Titan's and by extension, Titan Shifters, have great regenerative abilities, and when blood is drawn, one can create their Titan form. Now, if Eren was eaten by a Titan, like Armin said he was, how is he in front of us today? The only way that could have happened was if he was bleeding inside of the Titan's stomach, and transformed to save himself." He heard muttering around the room.

"The unconscious transformation likely had an effect that we saw after the second, with his behavior matching what most shifters go through with their first transformation. It's like your brain locking you in and depriving you of all your sense. You literally cannot control anything until you've been removed from that particular body or in Eren's case, being beaten into unconsciousness, while you unconscious." He finished, slightly out of breath towards the end.

"Interesting," Zackly said, "I'll take that into consideration. Mikasa Ackerman. Is it true after transforming, Jeager tried to attack you?" Mikasa almost seemed to pass. On one hand, she clearly wanted to protect Eren at any and all costs, but if she lied, it would be clear as day.

"Yes, it is true," she said finally. Muttering flew up around the room, with pretty much no regard to Ian's prior explanation. "But before that, he also saved my life twice in Titan form." Ian blinked, and resisted the urge to grit his teeth. If he was asked, he wasn't going to lie. That perceived protection was nothing but bloodlust on Eren's part. However, the second case was not so clear cut and dry. It was clear that Eren did want to protect his friends, but at the same time, it could have been messy if he transformed fully.

"Wait a moment," Niles said from across the room, almost interrupting Mikasa. "I believe this testimony is too emotionally-biased to be accepted in court." Ian blinked. This wasn't the route he thought them to take. It was also strange the the Military Police simply were referring to Eren now, like they sensed a lost cause with trying to get Alexander.

"Mikasa Ackerman lost her parents at a young age, and was taken in by Jeager's family," he continued, "However, we discovered some surprising details regarding those events. Eren Jeager and Mikasa Ackerman were nine years old at the time. They murdered all three robber-kidnappers." Multiple gasps went up around the room.

"You might call this justifiable self-defense," Niles went on, "but I can't help but feel disturbed by the fundamental lack of humanity in their actions. How can we trust him or any of them, with the fate, funds, and manpower of mankind?"

Once again, people began to mutter, bouncing ideas off one another. It didn't take long for fingers to start pointing at Mikasa herself. Eren jumped to her defense in a heartbeat.

"Wiat!" the boy yelled back, "Maybe I am a monster, but she has nothing to do with it!"

"As if we believe you!" Someone shouted back, as Ian pressed a button on the projector, causing a light blue beam of light to scan the room.

"The occupants of this room room consist of 50 humans, one Titan Shifter, and one Gorgon," The machine rang out loud, however, nobody heard it.

"No!" Eren suddenly shouted, yanking at the chains, causing a massive clang. Members of Military Police stepped back, and the room became dead silent. Alexander shoot Eren a look to stay quiet, but Eren didn't notice it. "You're wrong," he said softly, "You keep using speculation to make the water flow your way." Despite someone muttering "what" the room stayed silent.

"First off, you've never seen a Titan! So why are you so afraid?" Eren's face was dark with a mixture of determination and desperation, something that is a very dangerous mix. "If those with strength don't fight, who will? If you're too scared to fight for you own lives, then at least don't hinder me! You cowards." Eren's body was beginning to let off steam. Ian almost snarled. This was bad. Really bad. If Eren lost control here, it was done. He definetly fit into the Berserker Class of Titan Shifter, without a doubt, and that wasn't good. One of the Military Police soldiers pointed their rifle straight at Eren, just as a kick landed squarely across his face. The short man with black hair from before. Just kicked a Titan Shifter. And he didn't stop there. A kick to the gut. A knee to the face. The man unleashed a torrent of abuse onto Eren, making Ian cringe. Most, however, were shocked. The man finished with a stomp on the back of Eren's skull, causing a loud crack.

"It's just my opinion, but pain is the best tool for discipline. You don't need to be educated with words." The man said heartlessly, "you need training. You've fallen low enough that you're easy to kick around anyway." The short, anger, and clearly one not to be crossed, man began another round of kicks and stomps.

"Hold on, Levi," Niles muttered. Ian's eyebrows raised. Holy fuck. ' _That's Levi?'_ he thought. "That's dangerous. What if he starts raging and turns into a titan like he says."

"Yes, because starting rumors and wanting to do dissections is going to end so much better. You're the ones arguing to keep two knifes pointed at your own heart. Besides, he looks pretty docile right now," Ian said, playing along as best as he could, focusing on keeping a serous and non startled face by the turn of events. Eren began to raise his head again, simple to get another kick to his face. Didn't pay him any mind, showing Eren's battered and bruised face to the Wall Cult and the Military Police.

"As I heard it, when he turned into a Titan, he killed 20 other Titan's before running out of strength, and for other, at least 10," Levi said, "if they were enemies, they would cause more trouble than the intel is worth. Nether of them could stand against me though." Ian again had to force his jaw stay in place. This man was intimidating as hell. Heck, he very well could be the human equivalent to Mary. Ian's thought process almost paused. That was a scary thought.

"What about you on the other hand? All of you that prosecuted him, think it over. Can you really kill him?" Levi asked, despite the fact everyone in the room knew the answer.

"Supreme Commander, I have a proposal," Erwin suddenly said, raising his hand.

"What is it?" Zackly said, almost like he hadn't even seen the event in front of him.

"Eren and Alexander's powers have a multitude of uncertainties and unknown elements. Their power is exceedingly why don't we place Eren under Captian Levi's command, along with putting Alexander under Captian Hanji's, and then send them on a mission outside the walls?"

"Eren and Alexander as well?" Zackly asked.

"Yes," Erwin said, "Whether or not they can control their respective powers, and be beneficial to mankind, should be based on the results of that mission."

"Watch over them? Can you two do that?" Zackly asked

"Yes Sir!" A voice said from one of the higher up podiums, most likely, Hanji.

"I can certainly kill them. The problem will be if it's all or nothing," Levi said, finally turning around to face Zackly. Ian took a quick look around the room. Too his right, the Military Police and their supporters simply had a look of shock on their faces. On the left, everyone's face was blank, except for one Mikasa Ackerman, giving Levi a look that would have killed him if looks could kill.

"I've made my decision," Zackly said after a pause, "Eren and Alexander will go to the Survey Corps."

Ian merely had thirty minutes to prepare himself for the formal military agreement, quickly heading off to his room to gather more supplies if needed. However, he didn't expect everyone else to have congregated in his room during the trial.

"So how'd it go?" Jane asked the moment he opened the door.

"Holy shit!" Ian shouted, jumping back in surprise, "What are you all doing in my room?!"

"Just answer the question," Luke said, clearly bored and not wanting to deal with any extra bullshit.

"Everythings fine. The Recon Corps got Eren and Alexander," Ian said. Lilith clenched her fist in fist, grin splitting her face. "Now can you please get out of my room, I have about fifteen minutes to prepare."

Ian left the room in just enough time to get to the small meeting room where the agreement was to be signed. The three Commanders, Dot Pixis, Erwin Smith, and Niles Dawk, along with Daruis Zackly were already present. Ian quickly took his seat directly across from Zackly. The four others were already sitting, Zackly looking over a piece of paper.

"So, what this is saying is that you will inform us of any further reinforcements, augment some of our existing weaponry, inform us of how you found our Walls and the origins of the Titan's, in exchange, you will work alongside the Recon Corps," Zackly said, "It's strange how one sided this treaty is. How do we know there is no fine print?"

"There isn't any sir. We consider the people within the Walls their own government, nor do you have anything we want or need. And right now, we share a common threat," Ian said, face flat and serous.

"And what exactly is that?" Niles snapped.

"Our people found the Walls after we sent one of our best on the trail of a Titan Shifter that was conducting inhumane and illegal experimentation. This Titan Shifter was hiding here when the Armored and Colossal Titan's first struck. He fled for afterwards and our forces recently attempted an engagement. He escaped, and the last our forces saw of him, he was heading this way," Ian stated, staring straight at the commander of the Military Police.

"What type of experiments?" Erwin asked, now curious.

"He was conducting experiments on how to turn humans into Titans," Ian said.

"So like Eren," Zackly said.

"Not really. But Eren is what I was going to bring up involving the origin of Titan's," Ian said, all eyes turning to him, "You know how Eren comes out of the nape of a Titan? How he comes out of the one weak point?"

"Yes, what about it? We all know a Titan's nape is it's only weak point," Niles snarled.

"You don't find it weird that a Titan Shifter's body is stored in a Titan's weak point?" Ian got multiple looks of confusion, or at least dawning comprehension. "Titan's are manufactured, and they need one key component to make. Human's."

 **And that's a wrap. College bites, I don't get to write as much as I want. Sorry for an Ian centric chapter. He will be taking a bit more of a backseat role in the next couple chapters, I assure you. Well, hopefully you all enjoyed and have a happy single's awareness day.**


	9. Training: Part One

**First off, I would like to inform you that Attack on Titan: Evolved has reached over 1,000 views. All I have to say is thank you all so much! I would have never made it this far without you all! Hopefully you all have enjoyed reading this story, and once again, thank you all!**

Beeping began coming from a red colored device on a flat desk. The desk was in the center of a small, renovated prison cell. Alongside the red device, gears, pistons and other pieces of 3D-Maneuvering Gear cluttered the surface, along with head and drool from the engineering brunette. The device, acting as an alarm clock, became tired to being ignored, gave out one massive final beep, causing the boy to awaken in panic, feet kicking off the ground, propelling himself and his chair backwards into the stone floor.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Ian shouted in pain, grabbing the back of his skull.

Meanwhile, upstairs where everyone else was beginning to gather, only the final beep and the son of a bitch where heard. Thankfully Ren wasn't in the area, if she was, Jane would have made sure whatever had happened would be the least of his worries. Lilith, who was just in the middle of standing up to wake up the male that insisted on making his workshop in the basement jail.

"He'll be up soon enough," She said, sitting back down, taking a bit out of her stale bread, quickly swallowing so the taste didn't stay on her tongue for too long. Her brother made the mistake of chewing some, causing him almost start choking. Thankfully, besides a sleep deprived Eren and a fully awake but distracted Hanji, their was nobody there to take notice. Thank goodness for getting up early for sparring practice. Getting up at dawn let them surprisingly enough, left the two with a half hour of practice before they decided to get breakfast. It was going to be a day or two more before they received the incoming members of the 104th, which they had all learned only yesterday that there was more than one division and that they had fought alongside the Southern division. On one end, it meant more people would be joining Recon Corps, but on the other, it meant most of those people would be unfamiliar faces. Beggars couldn't be choosers, but most of them would much rather have a small group of survivors than a large group of cannon fodder. Still, it was fresh blood that was very desperately needed. Her thoughts were cut off as a mumbling Ian entering the room, still rubbing the back of his head.

"Good, you're still alive," Luke said, already finishing his meal. Ian proceed to shoot him the evil eye, before flopping down on the table.

"What did you do, spent the entire night up?" Petra asked, slight concern in her voice. One of the members of Levi's handpicked squad, the girl was not only skilled, but seemed to act more or else as the mother of the group. While Petra seemed to be slightly distrustful of them, something that surprised nobody, she treated them quite well, and had taken a liking to Ren.

"Pretty much," Ian mumbled, getting up to pick up some rations.

"Why? You know exactly what we are going to be doing today," Eld questioned. Eld is what many considered the old veteran within Levi's Squad, despite his actual young age. He was second in command, something that clearly showed in both personality and kill count.

"You gave him a new toy to play with," Luke smirked, "We all saw it coming." Ian shot him another death glare, taking a bite out of his bread, still not awake enough to taste the staleness.

"So how's the gear?" Jane asked, sitting down next Ian.

"Complex. Complex and good. Whoever made it was something akin to a genius," he said with a yawn. "Interesting how it runs on pressurized gas."

"Then what would you use, smart guy," quipped Oluo. The man with light-brown hair was clearly trying to mimic Levi, in both appearance and speech. He was good, that there was no denying, but he was also cocky. Most found it at the very least slightly annoying, excluding Ian, who frankly didn't seemed to care, and Ren, who thought it was funny watching him try an imitate daddy. Yes, Ren was calling Levi daddy, and nobody knew why. This and the fact the Wraith child pretty much went full stalker mode not long after arrival annoyed Levi to no end, and confused almost everyone else. While she did refer to Ian and Luke as her brothers, while Jane and Lilith she called her sisters, nobody was ever at any point given a parental title.

"Who said anything about changing it? It's certainly an easier to obtain and a far safer option than gasoline. I mean, one thing goes wrong, then BOOM!" Ian throw out his hand for dramatic effect, "You're dead or missing most of your waist. So yeah, I wouldn't change it." Oluo was about say something back as Levi entered the room, holding Ren by the back of her neck, much like how a mother cat carried it's young.

"What is this brat doing in my room?" He snapped, having just about enough with Ren and her antics. He was a soldier, not a glorified babysitter, despite the fact he was beginning to feel like one. First the Titan brat, the brat that he had just meet that decided to cling to him like some type of puppy, and Hanji was going to spent more time focusing on Eren than her own charge, so he was going to have to cover for that too. Lastly, he wanted to keep an eye on Luke, Lilith, Jane, Ian and Ren. Where they allies? Yes, that much was certain. But could they be trusted? The answer was maybe. They were outsiders, and could have any number of goals during the conflict. He doubted that they were simply here to help. He placed the girl on the ground, only for her to teleport upwards, grabbing his face in a hug. Lilith walked forward, pulling Ren off his face.

"Ren, enough!" She scolded the child, only for the girl teleported to the ground before biting her hand. She brought the struggling girl to her eye level. "You know that doesn't hurt right?" The child pouted as she was placed back on the ground.

"Apologize, then we'll get you something to eat," Luke said, staring down at the girl.

"Sorry," Ren said, looking down at her feet. The girl wasn't all that sorry. This just a reminder that she needed to be more careful in the future.

"This better not happen again," Levi stated, before grabbing a cup of tea off the counter.

"It won't," Luke and Lilith both stared down at Ren, "Right?" Despite the two's difference's, at that moment they looked identical pillars of anger and disappointment.

"Right!" Ren said gleefully, attempting to hide her fear of the massive buildup of disappointment surrounding her brother and sister. It would be best to lay low for a bit before continuing her stalking. With that, Lilith picked up the small child, placing her down at the table, before getting her a piece of bread. Ren's noise picked up on the smell of bread in front of her, and grinned.

"Sister, the plate!" Luke practically shouted, but it was already too late. Ren's mouth opened, letting out beam of energy, liquefying both the bread and the plate it was on, then was quite literally inhaled. Everyone exact for the outsiders looked at the young girl in shock, from looks of I've seen some shit. Even the stoic Levi had paused mid tea sip, eyebrow raised slightly.

"Hopefully that's the craziest thing we'll see today," Oluo muttered, despite the silence allowing his voice to be heard.

"If that's the strangest thing you see today, then these four aren't doing their jobs," Ian chuckled.

The first order of the day was sparring practice, something that was going to bring mixed results. Ian and Jane were certainly not on par with any member of the Special Operations Squad, the two being defeated quite easily. However, both Eren and Alexander performed better than some of the chosen members of the squad at hand to hand combat, while Luke and Lilith crushed all opposition outside of Levi. Ren was left to her own devices, due to her age preventing her from taking part in training. Petra had already voiced concerns about Ren even being in combat at all, and she wasn't the only one. Despite her power, the girl was still a child, and that was cause for concern. Why keep a child on the front lines? She had already proven to be hard to control, something that would be made multiple times worse in the heat of combat. Still, her outright strength alone made her a valuable asset, but hopefully she could be disciplined before the 57th expedition.

Ian winced in pain as Eren brought him down for the third time. Eren was good, much stronger than Ian, and clearly more skilled. His leg sweep slash body flip combination didn't help matters. It was painfully obvious that fighting in a four ton suit of armor left Ian's actual hand to hand skills in a dismal state of affairs. At this point, Ian was pretty much a glorified punching bag. He was going to have to pretty far before he was going to get on even the other trainees level, let alone any member of the Recon Corps.

Ian wasn't alone in the unprepared boat. Jane was also very far behind, even farther than Ian in terms of actual skill, despite the fact that she was stronger than he was. Even in her human form, she used lightning and her wings to defend herself. She actually had to be taught how to throw a proper punch, simply because she was so used to clawing everything.

On the other end of the scale was Luke and Lilith. Because of the fact they were a Goliath and a Behemoth, the two grew up learning how to fight hand to hand, both by the same person. Their mother taught them everything they knew, and it was clear they knew a lot, more than handly defeated the member's of the Special Operations Squad as they sparred. All except for Levi. Lilith actually decided against fighting him, which she was thankful for as she watched Luke fight Levi five times in a row, each time getting his face placed in the dirt. It was a necessary lesson in humility for him, one that had been sorely needed. Even if he couldn't use his armor, the fact Luke lost not only showed Levi's own strength, but also the fact the short man was to be respected. Even though it made him curious about what would happen if Levi and his mom fought. Luke had to resist the urge to shudder at the thought. The day this man and his mother fought would be the end of the world.

The remainder of the day was split. After setting up a training harness, much like one of the ones that Eren had used training, each of the outsiders got a turn of training for 3D Maneuvering Gear. Oluo and Gunder, of all people, started taking bets about how many times each of the outsiders would be eating the dirt. Only to be surprised as it only took Jane all of thirty minutes before she was hanging like a professional, keeping her body as still as it could, using her powers to keep her balanced.

Ian was another story. The boy was not used to keeping still, let alone simply hanging, placing him at a slight disadvantage.

"Keep still!" Petra shouted, watching the boy wiggle around like a fly stuck in a spider's web.

"That's easier said than done! How do you guys do this?" Ian shouted back, struggling to keep upright. After around two hours, he was finally beginning to get it. Still, he was going to need at least a week until he was ready to use the 3D Maneuvering Gear. He was also covered in sweat, which meant he was going to have bath, even if Levi forced him to. Thankfully, it didn't come to that, with Ian stating he was planning on it anyway.

Then came the disaster of Luke and Lilith. While the two were monsters in hand to hand combat, the ability to hang was humorous at best. Lilith simply couldn't keep upright, regardless of the advice thrown her way. Which lead to two hours of Lilith simply faceplanting. While disappointing, it wasn't like Erwin or Levi expected the need to them to learn to be that great. Afterall, they were to help with expeditions, not internal affairs. Luke was better, if only by a tiny marrgine. However, his temper quickly got the better of him, which caused him to end up doing nothing productive.

"Fuck you, ground!" Luke snarled, letting out a burst of flame from his mouth. It was closing in on nightfall by the tip Levi decided to call it quits on Luke's training for the day, before the he started to damage the equipment.

While they weren't busy trying to not to die at the hands of the the harness, they were helping Hanji with her experiments with two captured Titan's, Sonny and Bean. Besides the pain experiments, which ended up with each titan showing different reactions, much like humans, she also decided to expose them directly to each of the Evolved. Jane, Alexander, and Ren seemed to give the Titan's no reaction whatsoever. But when exposed to Luke and Lilith, they seemed to squirm around, almost like they were trying to get away. Maybe the smell of certain groups of Evolved warded off Titans? Or maybe enough of a tier? She had heard the word thrown a lot. Alexander was a tier one, Ren and Jane are tier two's, while Lilith and Luke are tier three. Maybe it was some type of size based hierarchy? She finally got tired of speculation, and decided to ask.

"So what does tier mean, anyway? I sometimes hear you bring it up," She asked, getting Jane's attention as she tested how quickly could a Titan heal from an electric based wound.

"Tier's are kind of like power classifications. Tier one's are the base, how powerful someone is at birth. To become stronger and evolve to the next tier, one needs to consume a certain amount of biological mass. Once that threshold is reached or surpassed, one can evolve to next tier, increasing our true forms height, power, and abilities," Jane said, not looking up from her work. Hanji nodded. That made sense. It explained why Ren seemed to have gained a new set of abilities between their first encounter and the reports from Trost. But that opened another bottle of questions. Do they choose which abilities they want? Is it genetic? Or is it random? The genetic made sense, but odds are, much like Titan's, they didn't make sense. It terms of weight and maybe things like appetite and starving to death, the Evolved made perfect biological sense. Everything else could be considered out the window. When the babies of your species were the size of small Titan's, and simply grew to what she had to assume where larger than most Titan's. Ren was somehow able to double her size in a minutes time. You can't call that making biological sense. But the sun was rapidly falling, and the fact Hanji didn't have a night's sleep was already beginning to have an effect on her. After a quick dinner from all exhausted parties, everyone called it a night. But not before forcing Ian and Hanji into actual beds for the night.

 **A bit of a shorter chapter, sadly. The next will be more focused on the incoming recruits, involving a brand new class and a few other surprises. Hopefully you all enjoyed, and I hope to see you all next update. Once again, thank you for allowing this story to break 1000 views.**


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